Franklin teachers save a life

A "couple dozen heroes" walk the halls of Franklin Elementary School.

At an assembly Tuesday, Franklin Principal Bill Holman recalled the actions of his staff, who saved the life of a co-worker in December.

"I stand here this morning, on March 5, very thankful for a whole bunch of things," Holman said. "But I am most thankful of all that Lina Quock was able to come to work yesterday for the first time since December."

Quock, a special education paraprofessional at Franklin Elementary, suffered sudden cardiac arrest on the school's playground just as students were arriving Dec. 17. On Tuesday, Pullman Fire Department honored eight staff members for saving her life with a civilian life saving award.

"I just can't say enough about the staff response," Holman said. "It was nothing short of heroic."

The staff members who responded to the emergency quickly dialed 911 and used the school's automated external defibrillator, which kept Quock alive until the ambulance responded.

Fire Chief Mike Heston presented the awards to the Franklin staff and said he was thankful all the schools now have defibrillators.

Pullman School District purchased the defibrillators about three years ago and certain staff members received AED and CPR training.

"We worked a long time to get that piece of equipment in schools and had many, many conversations about it over the years," Heston said. "The outcome turned out very well."

The best case scenario for cardiac arrests only occurs about 30 percent of the time, Heston said.

"We had a group of people who responded right away and we had enough training between us that we could help each other remember pretty rapidly," Holman said. "It was very nerve-wracking. There was no one there who had ever done anything like that before."

On the heels of a tragedy

Response to the medical emergency was only half of the deeds staff did that day.

Dec. 17 was the first day students returned to school following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn.

"I had a staff meeting planned for that morning to talk about how we were going to help our kids have a safe and good day," Holman said.

However, the first day back after the shooting, some children arrived to the lights of ambulances.

"All kids in all schools needed normalcy on that day and to have a sense of caring and comfort, but instead we started with a medical emergency," Holman said the week of the incident.

Despite the chaos, staff were able to reroute the children and parents who usually come in through the playground entrance. They then kept students distracted with a video in the school's multipurpose room and classes began on time.

Estelle Gwinn can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 301, or by email to egwinn@dnews.com.