Valley Stream school nurse's CPR helps save parent

A Valley Stream school nurse recently helped save the life of a parent who experienced cardiac arrest.

Karen Kaufman, a nurse at Valley Stream North High School in Franklin Square, received a call Dec. 10 from the school’s security guard that a student’s mother wasn’t feeling well near the building’s entrance.

Kaufman, who lives in Franklin Square and has worked at the school for eight years, immediately responded and became concerned as she checked the condition of the woman, who preferred to remain anonymous.

“When I get there, I could see this woman sitting there and she didn’t look good to me,” said Kaufman, 71. “I said, ‘What’s going on?’ The security guard said, ‘She’s saying she’s having an asthma attack.’ I said, ‘Ma’am, you don’t look like you’re having an asthma attack to me,’ because she didn’t sound like she was wheezing.”

Kaufman then called for fellow school nurse Denise Woods to bring over a pulse oximeter, a small device that clips onto a person’s finger to estimate their heart rate and blood oxygen level. Once the woman’s oxygen level came back to normal she asked whether she could be taken home, but Kaufman said that she decided to call for an ambulance since the woman continued to look unwell.

By the time Kaufman completed the call, the woman had taken a turn for the worse and was unresponsive with no pulse. The quick-thinking nurse then began to administer CPR until the woman’s pulse returned — all while her daughter looked on, Kaufman said.

Moments later, an ambulance arrived and transported the woman to a local hospital. She survived, but the district did not provide an update on her condition.

“It seemed like forever; it was probably two or three minutes, but it seems like a lifetime when you’re doing it,” Kaufman said of administering CPR.

Kaufman was recognized for her heroic efforts during the Valley Stream Central High School District’s Board of Education meeting on Jan. 13.

“Karen brings genuine concern to her work, and you can count on her to step up in critical moments,” said the school’s principal, Robin Small. “She’s someone who makes a real difference in our building, and our school is better for having her as part of our nursing team.”

Kaufman was involved in another life-or-death situation two years ago when she said a student overdosed and she was able to bring him back using Narcan, a medication known to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses. The incident ultimately led to districtwide training on how to administer the medication, she said.

“This is why I became a nurse,” Kaufman said. “To help whoever I can in their time of need.”

By Michael R. Ebert

michael.ebert@newsday.com

Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.