Training provides a second chance to save a man's life

Rutland Herald, October 27, 2007

By PATRICK McARDLE Herald Staff

MANCHESTER — After 10 years, Matthew Kujovsky got his second chance to save a life. This time he was ready.

It was about a decade ago that the Burr and Burton Academy math teacher and head varsity football coach was at a wedding in New Jersey when one of the guests collapsed and fell practically at Kujovsky's feet.

Kujovsky knew nothing about cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the time and could do little more than ask for someone to call 911. The guest eventually died.

"I kept thinking that if I had been trained or knew what to do and could have acted sooner, perhaps those precious few seconds would have made a difference. I basically vowed then never to be that helpless again," he said Friday.

The coach made good on that vow Oct. 15 at Springfield High School when official Gary "Moe" Haskell collapsed during the last minute of a junior varsity football game.

Kujovsky said he was standing near the 50 yard line and Haskell was in the end zone when he saw him drop to his knees and then fall face forward. Kujovsky said he knew immediately it was serious and reached Haskell in seconds.

Kujovsky and Gary Grabarz, Burr and Burton's junior varsity football coach, began to perform CPR and were soon joined by Rona McColl-Verdier, a registered nurse whose son plays football for Burr and Burton.

It was a difficult process. Kujovsky said there were at least two or three occasions when Haskell seemed to breathe on his own and the efforts to revive him stopped. But he would stop breathing again soon after.

Fortunately, another game official, Kristi Morris, had Haskell's nitroglycerin pills and provided them to the people trying to revive him.

Emergency medical technicians were not available at the game because minutes before they had taken away an injured Springfield player. When an ambulance arrived, Haskell was stabilized with the aid of an automatic external defibrillator.

It was several days until Kujovsky and others knew Haskell was expected to recover.

Telling the story almost two weeks later, Kujovsky makes two things clear: First, it was the cooperation of a group of people, something McColl-Verdier called "perfect teamwork," to keep Haskell alive. And second, if there was a lesson to be learned on Oct. 15 it was that everyone should learn how to perform CPR.

That effort is already under way at Burr and Burton. During the past school year, students at the independent high school received hands-on training in some basic first-aid techniques as part of the Save a Life Foundation.

Those skills include CPR, the Heimlich maneuver and the use of an automatic external defibrillator, a piece of equipment that can jumpstart an irregular heartbeat.

The training, the first in Vermont to target an entire high school's faculty and students, was supported by the Vermont Electric Power Company and its president and chief executive officer, John Donleavy.

"Students and faculty are frequently bystanders at emergency scenes and, given Vermont's rural nature, when trained they can help sustain life until help arrives. They can serve as a 'medical care bridge' in time of need," Donleavy, father of two Burr and Burton students, said in a statement.

VELCO has worked with Vermont's Washington legislators to secure funding so they can expand the training sessions to other schools in the state.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., released a statement Friday that congratulated Kujovsky.

"In times of need, Vermonters are good neighbors, quick to act. In this instance, the quick reaction and medical training of Matt Kujovsky saved a life. … This inspiring example can help encourage more Vermonters to be prepared for a time when they may have the chance to help someone in need," Leahy said.

McColl-Verdier said she knew that many people who had learned about CPR had a certain fear of actually putting it into use during an emergency.

"I had never participated in a resuscitation outside of a hospital so I was feeling a little fear myself and I'm a nurse! But what they tell you in CPR training really works. When the situation warrants it, those skills that you learned will come to you," she said.

Kujovsky said he had been an early supporter of the Save a Life Foundation training at Burr and Burton and his experience with Haskell proved its value.

"I helped to save one life and I'm one person. If they can train thousands of high school kids in Vermont, that's potentially thousands of lives that can be saved," he said.

Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com