KAUKAUNA (NBC26) — Kayla Houle, a teacher at River View Middle School, was just 24 years old when she collapsed in the hallway at school.
"As she was coming out to the hallway, according to her, I collapsed," Houle said.
Watch the full broadcast story here:
The odds were not in her favor. According to the Red Cross, the odds of surviving cardiac arrest outside a hospital are around 10 percent. EMTs were uncertain about her outcome.
"The EMTs said to my husband, we don't know if we're going to get her back," Houle said.
Houle said she died that day. But quick action by those around her — including chest compressions — saved her life.
"So she started chest compressions," Houle said.
Since surviving, Houle joined the American Heart Association as an advocate, bringing hands-on CPR training into Wisconsin schools and helping pass the federal HEARTS Act. She said her experience drives her mission.
"That's why I do my work, why I firmly believe in creating a nation of life savers because we want people to feel, you don't have to be certified or trained, any type of compression is better than standing there doing nothing," Houle said.
Now, Houle is pushing for a Wisconsin state law requiring schools to adopt a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan, or CERP — a step-by-step protocol rehearsed by students and staff so they are prepared when a cardiac emergency occurs.
"So that my miracle, where all the pieces fell where they needed to, can be someone's expectation," Houle said.
Gold Cross EMS Operations Manager Katie Halbach said having CERP in place at schools would make a meaningful difference for first responders.
"It would be amazing for us to know exactly what we're responding to and meet somebody to take us right where that cardiac arrest," Halbach said.
The Wisconsin Assembly passed the CERP bill. The American Heart Association is pushing for Senate action next session.
