EL MIRAGE, Ariz. — When schools opened their doors- virtually-the first few days were a time for teachers and students alike to work out the bugs in the remote learning system. But, for one school, that system was put to the test.
On the third day of Ms. Wilsey’s first grade class, a student unmuted their microphone with an emergency.
“This child just said, ‘Ms. Wilsey, I have an emergency; my Mom fell.’” Cassandra Wilsey said.
The student turned his laptop camera to show his mother, on the floor, passed out.
“That morning I was just sitting at my desk,” Dell Clark, the data records technician for El Mirage Elementary, said. “Ms. Wilsey came running into the office with her laptop and she said one of her parents just passed out and I called 911.”
A staff member in the office looked up the student’s address while Principal Stephanie Davis and Assistant Principal Rick Haney rushed out towards the student’s home. When Davis and Haney arrived, the student let them in.
“I went into the kitchen and she was passed out on the floor,” Principal Davis said. “So, I checked for breathing, checked for pulse; I wanted to make sure she was okay. About 2 minutes later the paramedics arrived and immediately sprang into action to take care of her. Then Mr. Haney and I took care of the student.”
The quick actions of the staff at El Mirage Elementary School may have saved a life that day. It’s hard to imagine what would have happened if class was not online the morning of Aug. 7.
“He probably wouldn’t been able to get a hold of anybody for that help,” Ms. Wilsey said. “So, we definitely were able to get them the help that they needed a little bit quicker and kind of help him through that really scary situation.”
For their actions, Wilsey, Clark, Davis and Haney were recognized with a Dysart Extraordinary pin, an award that Ms. Wilsey wears proudly on her lanyard.
“We have a community that is very tight,” Principal Davis explained. “We take care of each other here and it doesn’t surprise me that an emergency like this can occur and be handled so successfully.”
The mother and son can not be identified, but 12 News is told that the mother is doing fine, now, thanks to the quick work of the El Mirage Elementary staff.