03/03/2021
Way to Go Nurse Angela and the MJMS team!
It’s been said that life changes in a heartbeat. It’s shocking to see a young child collapse in the hallway of a school from a medical emergency. It surely jolted the faculty and staff of Mount Jordan Middle into action on Feb. 11 when student Stephen Allen collapsed in the hallway while walking to class. The staff knew he suffered from a rare and life-threatening condition which causes an irregular heart rhythm. They also knew that when it comes to treating a heart attack, time is muscle. Team Mountaineer jumped into action, setting into motion a chain of events made possible through planning and training — a chain of events that saved Stephen’s life. The Canyons Board of Education on Tuesday, March 2 recognized the following Mount Jordan staff and faculty for jumping into action when a student needed them the most: Principal Dr. Matt Watts, physical education teacher Ashley Anjiewierden, hall monitor Kami Ottman, head secretary Kim Mitchell, attendance secretary Amy Beardon, office aide Brenda Castillo and school nurse Angela Despain. The life-saving chain of events started with Kami who was right behind Stephen at the time of the incident, and initiated everyone into action by calling for help and staying with him, even though he was non-responsive. Kim immediately called 911 and stayed on the line with dispatch until the paramedics arrived. Amy helped identify the student and had the wherewithal to remember he had a health care plan. With foresight, it had been printed out and placed in a binder on her desk so they could easily grab and follow it. Brenda quickly dialed Stephen’s mom to alert her, allowing her to be to the school before the paramedics left with Stephen. Dr. Watts and teacher Ashley Anjewierden provided aid to the fallen student. Ashley had heard the call for help on a radio, recognized that Stephen had not made it to her class yet, put the two together, and bolted to where Dr. Watts was providing care and trying to keep kids from gathering around the incident. With her EMT training at the forefront of her mind, she took charge and called for the use of the AED while performing a few founds of CPR to get Stephen’s heart started again. School nurse Angela Despain arrived at the school mid-incident and helped run some debriefs as the paramedics arrived and departed with Stephen to the hospital. Stephen’s mom, Melissa Allred tearfully expressed gratitude for the actions that helped her son beat the tall odds he faces as a result of his heart condition. Each year in the U.S., there are approximately 359,400 Emergency Medical Services-assessed cardiac arrests outside of a hospital setting, and on average, fewer than 10 percent of the victims survive. An automated external defibrillator is a portable device that checks the heart rhythm and can send an electric shock to the heart to try to restore a normal rhythm. Defibrillation, along with CPR, is the only way to restore the victim’s heart rhythm to normal in a lot of cases of cardiac arrest. Yet only 17 percent of the nation’s schools and government offices make AED’s available in their facilities. In Canyons District, all schools have at least one AED for use in case of an emergency. As a token of the Board’s gratitude, they presented Mount Jordan staff and faculty with a signed AED device.
