Jacob Burley (front center) reunited with some of his first responders at a recent board of education meeting. Front row (L -R) Christy Hoopes, Ellie Thompson, RN, Jacob, Donna Cook; Back row: Crestview Local Schools Superintendent Dan Hill, Darren Miller, Caleb Crowl, Tim Pancake and Dom Perry.
A lot of fate helped Jacob Burley on Dec. 17 when he collapsed in his school gym. For starters, he had fast-acting friends, teachers and a school nurse nearby trained in CPR and an AED on hand to help revive his arrested heart.
Jacob, 14, an eighth grader at Crestview Local Middle School in Columbiana County, was in the gym playing pickup basketball with a few friends when he remembers thinking, “I’m losing my vision.”
The next thing he remembers is waking up on the floor of the gym with Mr. Dominic Perry, his weightlifting class teacher, hovering over him. Moments earlier, unbeknownst to him, school nurse Ellie Thompson had heard he was in need and rushed to the gym, assessed him, began CPR and revived his heart with an automated external defibrillator (AED).
He was soon on a stretcher and off to a hospital in Youngstown and then life-flighted to Akron Children’s pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Akron.
“Jacob is a very lucky young man,” said Dr. John Clark, a pediatric cardiologist at Akron Children’s. “His odds of survival would have been around 5% without the AED nearby and the quick response of our school nurse and other first responders.”
Dr. Clark implanted a defibrillator in Jacob and is awaiting genetic testing to see if there is an underlying cause for his sudden cardiac arrest.
Dr. Clark with Jacob at his Dec. 31 post-surgery appointment
“We feel very comfortable with this,” said Jacob’s mom, Sunshine. “The way Dr. Clark explained it, it will monitor his heart and kick in when there is an irregular beat. It’s good to know because you can’t always count on having a school nurse or other trained bystander nearby.”
Dr. Clark described the defibrillator to Jacob as “having an ambulance in your chest.”
Thompson, who works as an Akron Children’s School Health Services nurse at Crestview, was in her nurse’s clinic when a student ran into her office telling her Jacob had collapsed on the gym floor during his weightlifting class. When she arrived, she found him face down and gray. She turned him over and found he was not breathing and did not have a pulse. She asked Dominic to call 9-1-1, began chest compressions and asked someone to grab the nearest AED. It was just 35 feet away in a nearby corridor. High School guidance counselor Darren Miller helped her place the pads on Jacob and they followed the step-by-step guidelines on the AED.
“After about maybe 20 or 30 seconds, he just had a return of spontaneous circulation. He got pink and started breathing on his own,” said Ellie.
When she saw him take his first breath, she remembers pausing herself, going from a kneeling to a sitting position on the gym floor to take a deep breath of her own – one of relief.
Dan Hill, superintendent of Crestview Local Schools, said the response to Jacob’s health emergency was a perfect example of the importance of training and having the right people in place.
“We are so grateful for Ellie’s professionalism in approaching the situation – she never backed away from the circumstance – and this is an example of why you want to have the right staff in the right positions at the appropriate time,” said Hill. “In no point in time, when we were moving to Akron Children’s [for a school health services contract], did we envision something like this, but Akron Children’s educates its nurses for moments like this and having them embedded in our district is paramount. There are just too many things that weren’t by happenstance.”
Hill noted that the district has incorporated AED training as part of teacher in-service workshops each year.
“This year,” Hill added, “we did a scavenger hunt as part of their introduction, so that everybody knew where they were. How important was that? Did we foresee this?”
Hill said the district currently has six AEDs throughout its facilities, but he would like to explore getting more and even updating some models.
After a few days in the PICU, Jacob was discharged and has been recovering over his winter break.
Jacob, and his mom, just before being discharged from the PICU
He should have no restrictions on returning to all the things he loves – camping, swimming, golfing.
“Jacob loves animals, and he’s very outdoorsy,” said Sunshine. “He also likes to shoot pool and just hang out with his friends – always being zany and goofy and keeping everyone laughing.”
Sunshine said the Burley family – including father, Benjamin, and brothers, Joshua and Drake – has been very appreciative of the community support.
“We’ve had a lot of people reaching out with offers of dinners, gas cards, and lots and lots of prayers,” she said.
Jacob called Ellie from the hospital the day after his collapse.
“He wanted to thank her, and we wanted to make sure she got some solace in knowing that he was OK and she had made a huge difference for him,” said Sunshine.
Jacob, with his mom, Sunshine, and grandmother, Starlyn, on a recent appointment to follow up with Dr. Clark
