KELSEYVILLE — With heart-related health scares being reported across the county, some Kelseyville school officials had external defibrillators on their radar.
“It was almost like every other day you”d hear about a high school athlete going down in a practice,” Kelseyville High School (KHS) Principal Matt Cockerton said.
The debate continued at the district level for several years but approval never really got enough traction.
That was until an incident during fall 2010 basketball tryouts sent shockwaves through the community and soon became the driving force behind a movement to place an automated external defibrillator (AED) in all main Kelseyville campuses.
Troy and Mary Sherman joined other Kelseyville parents and some KHS staff at a senior class informational event the evening of Nov. 16, 2010 in advance of daughter Melissa”s impending graduation.
Meanwhile, son Nathan, then 14, was in the gymnasium trying to make the junior varsity basketball team as a freshman.
Senior parent night hadn”t been under way for long when attendees noticed a student come running in and call out.
“You could just tell on his face that something was seriously wrong,” school staff member Joanie Holt said. “And I just ran.”
Holt, coordinator of the Kelseyville Community Organization for Rescue and Public Service (K-CORPS) program, ended up being one of several trained first responders at the meeting.
Upon entering the gym, Troy remembered seeing Nathan on the ground and blue, unable to breath.
Holt said she immediately began rescue breathing while another performed CPR.
The call reportedly went out to 9-1-1, but Kelseyville Fire Protection District (KFPD) personnel who would typically be located several blocks away from the high school were handling another incident.
As a result, there was a “slight delay in normal response,” KFPD Chief Mike Stone said.
Holt and the other first responders helped keep Nathan alive for more than five minutes until emergency medical personnel arrived — something the Shermans will never forget.
“It was kind of a godsend that we were all there because that night would have just been the coaches and the basketball team. And it kind of played out that it was nice that the community was there because obviously, in the end, three of the people that were at the presentation for Melissa”s senior night saved his life,” Troy said.
The medical team used its AED on Nathan soon after arriving, but his condition still appeared life-threatening when he left in the ambulance.
“I thought when he was going to the hospital, I thought I was going to lose my son,” Troy said.
The paramedics got Nathan”s pulse back but while at Sutter Lakeside Hospital, he went into cardiac arrest again.
The second scare led to Nathan being flown to Children”s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, where he awoke several days later.
Nathan, now 16, said he remembers nothing about the basketball tryout.
He passed neurological tests soon after waking up. “They were able to revive him quickly enough so he didn”t have any brain damage,” Mary said.
About a week after the incident, surgeons placed an internal defibrillator inside Nathan.
He returned to class later that school year and experienced few problems until late the following summer, when the internal device went off several times and he passed out twice.
Nathan was flown down to Oakland again in September and later transferred to Lucile Packard Children”s Hospital at Stanford University. There, doctors finally traced the root of the problem.
Nathan was diagnosed with ARVD (arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia), which is also known as ARVC (with the “C” standing for cardiomyopathy).
Doctors determined it was a genetic condition linked to his mother”s side. Mary received an implanted internal defibrillator about two months ago.
The ARVD had previously gone undetected.
Mary described Nathan as a star athlete with a great health record before going into cardiac arrest. “Like the genetic counselors told us, ”This type of thing usually families don”t find out about it until this type of incident or they die,”” she added.
By October, Nathan was back on the KHS campus with a new medication regimen but unable to engage in any physically strenuous activities.
And while the incident had left its lasting impact on Nathan, it had also affected people within the Kelseyville Unified School District (KUSD).
“We”re happy that the young man made it through and he”s walking the campus today, but it kind of brings to light, ”Hey, what if? What if the fire department”s out at a big fire or they”re completely extended and you have to maintain this until they”re available,”” Cockerton said.
KUSD Superintendent Dave McQueen said “a great, community-based effort” ensued to try and get external defibrillators on Kelseyville school campuses.
“My perception is the whole community was really for this, but the real shakers and movers were in the fire department and the district working together,” McQueen added.
An AED proposal appeared before the KUSD Board of Trustees late last year.
Troy Sherman said he wrote a letter to the school board members.
“It was just about supporting and saying, ”hey, we went through a rough time and boy what a nice thing that would have been to have something like that there at that time,”” he said.
The KUSD board agreed and approved the AED program Dec. 13.
“Our school board was very helpful and wanted to do this, so they gave the green light to make sure that all of the sites within the district have one,” McQueen said.
The program cost the district about $12,000, which covered six AED units, supplies and a four-year service agreement, according to KUSD nurse Barbara Barnaby.
By mid-January, district officials said devices had been installed at all four main campuses.
Three AEDs are at the high school: one outside the office, one in the gym lobby and one in a garage near the football field.
Both elementary schools have single devices in their cafeterias and Mountain Vista Middle School has one in the nurse”s station in the main office, Barnaby said.
The new units have not been used to date, according to school officials.
Though each principal and some staff members have received training, Barnaby said just about anybody could use the AED successfully. “They”re designed to be operable by the typical sixth-grader,” she added.
The devices, made by Medtronic, include color-coded pads, supplies (such as gloves and a CPR mask) and indicator lights.
They also provide an automated voice to guide users through each step of the process.
After the defibrillator pads are pressed firmly on the person”s skin, the voice tells the user, “Do not touch patient. Evaluating heart rhythm. Stand by. Preparing to shock, everyone clear. Do not touch patient. Delivering shock.”
The device then instructs the user to provide chest compressions and rescue breathing until it re-evaluates the patient in about two minutes. The AED will only supply a shock after reading the person”s body and deeming it appropriate.
The units at the campuses are compatible with KFPD defibrillators, according to school officials.
“I”m really excited about the program. I think it”s a great step,” the fire chief said.
School officials also pointed out that the units would not only serve students but adult staff and visitors too. “It”s not just the children; it”s the entire community,” Barnaby said.
Of the other public K-12 school districts in Lake County, only Middletown reported having any AEDs on campus. Superintendent Korby Olson said one was donated and placed in the high school gym about five years ago after a man”s death.
Kelseyville school officials said the incident involving Nathan Sherman was clearly the impetus for their district moving forward.
“That absolutely made it real,” Barnaby said.
When asked about being the main reason for the new AED program, Nathan acknowledged his own role while expressing hope for others.
“It kind of makes me feel special, I guess. I don”t know. It”s just that because of me, that in case someone else has this happen to them, they”ll hopefully be saved,” he said.
