OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – It was a scary moment for students, staff and parents Tuesday night when a basketball coach collapsed to the floor during a girls’ basketball game between St. Cloud Middle School and Horizon Middle school.
“It was a scary, scary scene of course, for our student athletes who were involved and others watching,” Dr. Debra Pace, Osceola County Superintendent said. “Coach Cranmer is alive today because of the great work that officer Burrows, our citizen as well as the student athletic trainer and other staff members did to provide that really critical the immediate first aid.”
Dr. Pace told News 6 that the St. Cloud Middle School basketball coach Lynnsey Cranmer had to be revived. St. Cloud Fire Rescue released body camera footage that showed first responders arriving on scene.
“It truly is just a miracle and a blessing that we had folks on hand, had the training and willing to step in and help coach Kramer,” Dr. Pace said.
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According to Dr. Pace, a school resource officer immediately began CPR, and a physician’s assistant who was at the game, stepped in to help while an athletic trainer rushed to get an AED device.
“We have AEDs on site at all our campuses and our athletic trainers are trained to make sure they’re available at all athletic events,” Pace said. “We have drills and that’s what we need to do to make people know where those AED devices are located so they can be retrieved in the event of an emergency.”
William Campbell, a retired firefighter, is program manager of emergency services at Osceola Technical College. Campbell said staff and students across the school district are provided training in CPR.
“If you’re doing CPR on somebody, they need an AED as soon as possible,” Campbell said. “When a person doesn’t receive CPR immediately, we have a thing what we call time is brain. Time is brain means that the longer the persons down and nothing is being done the more brain cells are lost.”
Campbell explained 100 to 120 chest compressions per minute are needed. Both hands, one on top of the other, need to go down 2 inches while performing CPR.
“Most cases if you pump hard and fast on someone’s chest more than likely that’s gonna help them out tremendously versus doing nothing at all,” Campbell said.
As for the coach, she was taken to a local hospital where she’s recovering.
“We are just so so glad to know that she is getting the care that she needs. We can’t wait to welcome her back and to celebrate the life that she has ahead of her. 6:12 We want you to be well coach Kramer! Thank you for all you do for our students,” Dr. Pace said.
For information on taking a CPR course at Osceola Technical College, visit here.
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