School nurse, police officer act to save Grandview high schooler’s life

Quick action by a school nurse and a police officer helped save the life of a freshman girl when she had cardiac arrest in a classroom last month at Grandview High School.

Mary Rhodes, the school’s health services coordinator, and Brett Myers, the school resource officer, performed CPR and used an automatic external defibrillator (AED) to revive Isabella McMahill, who has a heart condition but returned to school this week.

A friend noticed just before 9 a.m. on Oct. 23 that Isabella’s face was pale and her lips were turning blue. She headed to get help and heard her friend fall to the floor.

Rhodes and Myers went to work to revive the girl.

“AEDs in each of our buildings gives us the ability to enhance emergency care,” Rhodes said in a statement issued by the school district. “Without the AED in this instance, the outcome would certainly have been different. It allowed us to save a life that day.”

Myers had been recognized earlier in October by the Grandview Police Department for saving a choking baby when responding to a 911 call.

“Both times, I was just doing what I was put there to do,” Myers said.

This story was originally published November 9, 2017 at 4:09 PM.