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Florissant Police report that a  14-year-old child’s life was saved by a Florissant Police School Resource Officer and Ferguson-Florissant School District staff after they performed CPR on a Cross Keys Middle School student on March 31. The student has been recuperating at an area hospital, and is expected to make a full recovery.

On the morning of Monday, March 31, Florissant Police Officer Kim Berry was in her office at Cross Keys Middle School when she was asked to respond to the school gymnasium for a report of a student having seizures. When Officer Berry arrived, she discovered that the student-a 14-year-old male-was not breathing and did not have a pulse.

Officer Berry and physical education teacher Scott McMurry immediately began CPR. School principal Jeremy VanPelt and nurse Vicki Curtis arrived from the school office with the Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

When the AED arrived, Officer Berry, McMurry, VanPelt, and Curtis prepared the device, which delivered one shock to the victim in an attempt to restart his heart. After the shock was delivered, Officer Berry and McMurry continued CPR until the victim began to breathe on his own-shortly before paramedics from the Florissant Valley Fire Protection District arrived. The victim was then transported by the paramedics to an area hospital.

Officer Berry is assigned to Cross Keys Middle School as part of the Florissant Police Department’s School Resource Officer program. The AED used in this incident was purchased by the Ferguson-Florissant School District, which has them in every district building.