Huff was called to the cafeteria at lunchtime because a student was choking. When she got there, a substitute teacher was performing the Heimlich maneuver on the sixth grader. The student passed out, so Huff began chest compressions and told others to announce a Code AED over the intercom and call 911.

 

Meanwhile, staff members cleared other students out of the cafeteria. Members of the crisis team grabbed the AED (automated external defibrillator), in case it was needed. Huff said the child coughed and revived after a few chest compressions.

 

Paramedics arrived and took the student to Cook Children's Hospital, where he was treated and later released.

 

Huff said it was the first time in her 19 years as a nurse that she needed to perform chest compressions at school. She's been campus nurse at Creekview for seven years and a district nurse for 10 years.  She also leads all CPR instruction in the district.

 

"You hope these things never happen, but that's what we're here to do," she said.

 

Cheryl Phalen, coordinator of health services for the district, called Huff "the hero of the day" and "the best of the best."

   

The emergency at Creekview put the crisis team into action, and the members executed the plan like clockwork, she said.

 

"This is a perfect example of why we do these drills," she said.

 

Every campus in the district is a Heart Safe School with Project ADAM, Phalen said. That means that every school has an AED and staff members who are trained to respond quickly to cardiac emergencies with CPR and the device. School nurses lead those teams.

 

"Nurses in EMS ISD are ready to meet these emergencies with the utmost dedication and professionalism," Phalan said. "And Traci is the hero of the day."