This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/24/2019 12:00 AMWhile away at a wrestling tournament in Lake Placid, New York on May 17, East Haven High School (EHHS) junior Vincenzo Bunce’s mother had a heart attack. Fortunately, he knew what to do.
“After arriving at the hotel room…within an hour, my mother was complaining of chest pains and she sat down to catch her breath. Then she collapsed,” Bunce said.
“I ran over to her, flipped her to her side, and went down to get my father,” he said. “We rushed upstairs and called 911. I got her to her back and started chest compressions.”
At press time, Bunce’s mother, Maria, was out of surgery and doing well.
Not to be deterred, Bunce went on to wrestle in the tournament, coming out with a 3-2 record that weekend.
For about five years, the East Haven Board of Education (BOE) mandates students to receive some CPR training before they graduate. In part, Bunce learned how to help his mother until professional help arrived through the program taught by EHHS Head Athletic Trainer Marc Aceto.
“What I do is, I go through all the health classes…for two to three days and I teach them the basic handling of CPR, which is just the chest compressions,” Aceto said.
He also teaches students how to recognize when CPR is necessary and the “check, call, care” procedure that Bunce went through with his mother.
“I’m not surprised how [Bunce] handled it, but the way he handled it is so admirable from him doing to chest compressions to him putting his mom in the fetal position to him calling 911 and remaining calm,” Aceto said. “It’s unbelievable.”
He believes that it’s important for students to learn the basics of emergency medicine, even if they don’t go any further with the training.
“When I teach the kids, I say this is more for something that you can help [anyone] from a family member to a teacher to a co-student,” Aceto said. “This is valuable for any situation in life that you may come upon.”
Bunce is hoping for more than just the basic skills to save lives. In addition to Aceto’s classes at EHHS, Bunce has experience with rescue operations with the East Haven Fire Department’s youth program.
“You go in there, you do sort of the same training that firemen do,” Bunce said. “Sometimes we work with ladders…sometimes we practice emergency medicine.”
Station 3 houses a maze for them to run through in full gear. The other stations also participate in training exercises for those in the youth program.
He said that he plans to pursue a career in the fire and rescue world after high school—with his knowledge and experience, he’s off to an exciting start.