Appleton, WI, EMT Students Save Instructor During Cardiac Arrest Drill

“I said I’ll just make it up, I’ll just do chest pain, one of those is pretty easy.”

That's the scenario that EMT Instructor Karl Arps said he came up with while teaching an EMT class at Fox Valley Technical College in late March. 

But as students were taking his vitals, they noticed something was happening. Things were off, WFRV reported.

“All of a sudden, his face started getting darker...I think this is real. Like this is actually happening,” EMT student Logan Lehrer said.

Within seconds, he and his classmates knew he was in cardiac arrest -- something Arps had taught them a week earlier.

“I was thinking, this is what needs to happen. So this is what I’m going to do,” Ben Marsh, another student, recalled.

Within seconds, the students placed him on a backboard and removed him from the ambulance.

“CPR was started within 40 seconds of recognition, the AED was retrieved and applied in 90 seconds and two shocks were delivered, And at 4:30, we had a pulse back, and he was talking to us,” Les James, an instructor, said.

The veteran EMS provider underwent cardiac surgery and his recovering at home.

But, he returned to class this week to thank the crew who quickly realized he needed help. There were hugs, tears and handshakes involved.

"What can I say to the six students who saved my life?"