A high school principal in Peabody was forced to put his emergency training to use, when he likely saved one of his student’s lives.
Right around dismissal time at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, Principal Eric Buckley got a call on his radio that 16-year-old Deirianny Brea was in trouble. “We could tell it was a little more than someone just passing out,” said Buckley.
Brea was in cardiac arrest and on the floor when staff found her. According to protocol, the staff grabbed an emergency defibrillator and took action. It was Buckley’s first time putting his emergency training into action.
“Was I nervous? We were doing everything possible, everything right to make sure this kid is OK,” he said.
Brea’s family said they are more than grateful to the principal and school staff. “I didn’t know it was the principal who saved her it’s amazing and he’s an angel,” said Brea’s aunt Cindy Caba.
The student’s family said she has little memory of what happened, but is in stable condition.
The Peabody school system bought the defibrillators eight years after a similar incident with a student. Buckley hopes that this can be a lesson for other school districts. “It works and I would suggest to any school system that doesn’t have these to find a way in their budget to get them into their schools,” Buckley said.
In January, Governor Charlie Baker signed a law requiring every school in Massachusetts to have at least one defibrillator on site by July 1, 2018.
SOURCE: CBS Boston