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High School Athletes Help Save Coach After Scary Incident at Practice

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Longview High School in Texas is best known for producing star athletes like Trent Williams of the Redskins and Chris Davis of the Orioles, in addition to Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey.

But it’s the current students who deserve the acclaim after their quick thinking helped save a cross country coach’s life.

Near the end of a Monday practice, Longview’s cross country coach Ken Jernigan collapsed, the Longview News-Journal reported. That’s when the student-athletes sprang into action and alerted Longview athletic trainers Deirdre Scotter and Kristin Croley.

“The kids came running into the training room and screamed that Coach Jernigan had collapsed, and when they said that, knowing that he has a little heart history, I took off and told Coach Croley to grab the automated external defibrillator, and we both got up there quickly,” Scotter told the News-Journal.

“He wasn’t getting regular breaths and Kristin felt a thready pulse-to-no pulse, so it was a no-brainer to put the AED on him right away,” she said.

The school nurse then arrived to help out, administering CPR until EMS arrived. Jernigan’s condition improved, and that wouldn’t have been possible without the quick response of the students and trainers.
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“It was a team effort and everyone involved was doing what they were supposed to do,” said Scotter, who gave thanks to God in a tweet Tuesday.

Even though Scotter and Croley had been trained on how to use the AED machine, this was the first time they had to put their training to use.

“You don’t have time to think,” Croley said. “Your instincts kick in and you just go. There’s no hesitation.

“We’ve been trained to do this so it’s a situation where it’s, ‘OK, here it is, let’s go.'”

The school’s athletic director, John King, made a push during the previous school year for all athletic trainers to become certified CPR instructors, and that experience was invaluable.

“This past spring, Coach King and (assistant AD) Coach Hamilton made it happen where we are now certified instructors, and that helped big time,” Scotter said. “We had taught CPR to a lot of the coaches that were present so they were able to see that training in action.”

Per the News-Journal, Jernigan was in a hospital recovering after Monday’s episode and King paid him a visit.

“Coach was sitting up, talking and having a normal conversation and joked with me that he would probably be out the rest of the week,” King said. “We have an outstanding training staff here at Longview ISD as well as great nurses, who were ready to spring into action and had a major outcome in this situation.

“It was a total team effort.”

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Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009.
Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009 and previously worked for ESPN, CBS and STATS Inc. A native of Louisiana, Ross now resides in Houston.
Location
Houston, Texas
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Sports




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