Staff at the Intensive Education Academy in West Hartford save a life.

Submitted

Oct. 20, 2022 started as a very typical day at the Intensive Education Academy (IEA) , but by the end of the day five staff members would become heroes.

Thursday afternoon, students and staff in one of IEA’s high school classrooms enjoyed their weekly trip into the community. Visiting Eisenhower Park to work on social and community skills, the students and staff enjoyed the beautiful day. Upon their return, everyone began to prepare for dismissal. That is when things took an unexpected turn.

Suddenly, the teacher in the room started to feel unwell. Fortunately, Andrea Salcius, a Speech and Language Assistant with IEA through CREC and member of IEA’s emergency team, was in the room. Knowing something was terribly wrong, she immediately assessed the situation. “I knew she was in distress, I knew she needed help and I knew we had to move quickly,” Salcuis said. The teacher was unresponsive.

Kristen McQueen and Rebecca Santino, teacher assistants in the class, quickly removed the students from the room and called for the Emergency Team. Within seconds, Margo Baume, Board Certified Behavioral Analyst, Matt Enright, Physical Education and Health Teacher, Deven Constant, Director of Education and Nurse Terri LeDuc were on the scene.

The team quickly moved into action, calling 911 and initiating early CPR and defibrillation with the school’s AED, to successfully maintain circulation until Emergency Medical Services arrived. West Hartford Police, Fire and Paramedics arrived at the scene moments later.

EMS provided advanced resuscitation and stabilized the teacher for transport to the local hospital, where she was evaluated and treated by the cardiology team. Paramedics say that the rapid response of IEA’s Emergency Team played a crucial role in her survival.

“I can’t say it enough, the team was incredible. They were out of this world,” said Constant. “It was an incredible example of a group working together seamlessly and putting all of their practice into immediate action.”

LeDuc notes 15 staff members are currently trained in CPR and the use of the AED, to prepare for incidents like this. Due to the medically fragile nature of some of IEA’s students, the Emergency Team is always ready for a quick response.

“We are incredibly thankful to our staff that did not hesitate when it came to taking life saving measures on behalf of their colleague,” Lori Susi, Executive Director, said. “But I have to be honest, it’s not a surprise; every single one of those staff members goes above and beyond for our students and our school every day. This time, they took it to the next level and we couldn’t be more grateful.”

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.