Calhoun senior saves hockey player with CPR

While attending an ice hockey tournament in upstate Lake Placid in late January, Calhoun High School senior Austin McLoughlin sprung into action to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation after a player was struck in the head and suffered a seizure on the ice.

“He actually excused an individual that was inappropriately administering CPR and took charge over the situation,” explained phys. ed. teacher James Raucci. “He administered chest compressions after checking vitals, and when no heartbeat was present, he continued CPR.”

McLoughlin established a beat and moved the man into the recovery position. First responders arrived and took over from that point, as McLoughlin quietly walked away.

“The most important thing is that we are teaching the students the right way to do this,” said Eric Caballero, the Bellmore-Merrick Central School District’s director of phys. ed., health and athletics.

“We are proud of Austin and thankful he and others have benefited from the January first aid and CPR course,” added Calhoun Principal Nicole Hollings.
The CPR course, which has been taught throughout the Central District in recent years, is funded by Forever 9: The Robbie Levine Foundation. Founded in 2005 in memory of 9-year-old Robbie Levine of Merrick, who died of sudden cardiac arrest at his Little League practice, the non-profit organization raises funds for automated external defibrillators at youth athletic fields.

While it is a new New York State Education Department mandate that high schools expose students to AED and hands-on CPR administration, the district began its program three years ago. “It started as a pilot program at Merrick Avenue Middle School when my son was attending the school, and then over the years we added it to more buildings,” said Jill Levine, the Robbie Levine Foundation executive director.