WILDWOOD – With Valentine’s Day around the corner, 11-year-old Eric Jordan can thank his school nurse that he’s alive to pick his valentine.
Jordan was recovering from pneumonia and had returned to Glenwood Avenue Elementary School, where he is a fifth grader, when he went to the nurse’s office complaining of heart palpitations and chest pain. Quick action by school nurse Lindsay Obermeier, R.N., B.S.N., C.S.N. (Registered Nurse, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Certified School Nurse), likely saved his life.
“I checked his pulse ox (pulse oximetry measures the oxygen level in blood) and it was in the low 90s,” recalled Obermeier. “His heart rate was way up, too. I knew something was off and called his mother, urging her to take him to the hospital right away.”
She noted that in healthy children a pulse ox should be higher than 96 percent, with 100 percent being ideal.
Jordan’s mother, Jessica Hessler, rushed him to the emergency room who then transferred Jordan to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). “They told me he could have had a heart attack, especially if he had gone to gym,” Hessler said. “The hospital said his school nurse had saved his life.”
Hessler said her son stayed in CHOP for three days as they treated him for pericarditis, an inflammation surrounding the heart which was the remnants of his pneumonia from December. “He still had the pneumonia virus in him,” Hessler added. “His heart was inflamed.
“I am so thankful his school nurse called me; she didn’t have to. She went above and beyond I think. I am so thankful.”
Although Obermeier has been a school nurse for a year, she was an emergency room nurse for five years. It was her experiences there that Obermeier credited for knowing how serious the situation with Jordan was.
“It’s my job,” she said. “I love the kids here, and while I don’t have children of my own, I try to take care of them as best as I can.”
“While what she did is part of her job, we’re extremely proud that she is doing her job extremely well,” Principal Travis LaFerriere added. “As a school district we are really proud about that and we care a lot about our kids here. We’re thankful Eric is OK and we’re able to move on in a positive direction.”
For Jordan, he said he is feeling fine and wasn’t “scared” during the incident. He prefers to get on with things and feel better.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.
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