Aliso Niguel High School Coaches Credited With Saving Student's Life
ALISO VIEJO (CBSLA.com) — Two Orange County high school coaches are being credited with saving the life of a student who collapsed during basketball practice.
Using the CPR skills they'd learned and training on a defibrillator, also known as an AED, Aliso Niguel High School coaches Peter Butler and Doug Fleming brought the basketball player back to life Monday night.
"A couple sophomore boys came over and said, 'Coach, help! One of our players passed out and he's not breathing,' " recalled Butler, who teaches Spanish and is the women's volleyball coach at the school.
Fleming called for help from the campus gym.
Operator: "Fire emergency ... "
Caller: "Hi, I'm at Aliso Niguel High School in the boys basketball gym. I have a player with asthma down."
The student, identified as Jaewon Yun, was in full cardiac arrest. He was not breathing and had no heartbeat.
Caller: "Stay with me, Jaewon. Are you OK?"
Operator: "Is he breathing?"
Caller: "I'm gonna do the mouth-to-mouth. He's a sophomore. Are you breathing? Here we go ... "
According to officials, there was only a short window of time to revive 15-year-old Jaewon.
"And they told the volleyball coach, 'Grab the AED.' So, he ran over there in the corner, grabbed the AED," Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said.
A combination of CPR and a defibrillator was in need to resuscitate Jaewon.
"The volleyball coach ran in here. Ripped open his shirt. Applied the pads to his chest and one on the back. Pressed 'Analyze' and then it said 'Shock Indicated' and the coach was able to defibrillate him right then," Concialdi said.
Six years ago, the first AEDs were put on campus in memory of Megan Myers, a district student, who died during a cross-country meet.
Myers' mother spearheaded the effort to place the AEDs on campus. On Wednesday, she called to congratulate Butler.
Jaewon was said to be doing better.
"We just had a son this last year, and I just thought about my family," Butler added.
