Bodycam Video: Fla. Deputy Use Defibrillator to Save Teen

Aug. 30, 2021
When a student collapsed at a Tampa high school, a Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputy delivered shocks to the teens' chest and performed CPR for several minutes until medics arrived.

By Josh Fiallo

Source Tampa Bay Times

TAMPA, FL—A deputy used a defibrillator to save a boy who had collapsed at Wharton High School and the ordeal was captured on body camera video, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.

The incident occurred about 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, in an outdoor area of the Wharton campus at 20150 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in north Tampa.

A fellow student alerted school staff that the victim had been breathing irregularly before collapsing, unresponsive, to the ground.

William Mellana, school resource deputy at Wharton, called for help from emergency medical services and began delivering shocks from a defibrillator to the teenager’s chest. Mellana also performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation for several minutes.

Tampa Fire Rescue soon arrived and transported the student to AdventHealth Wesley Chapel.

The student has recovered and was released from the hospital. He will undergo further medical evaluation.

No information about the student’s identity was released.

His mother thanked the Sheriff’s Office for Mallena’s life-saving intervention, according to a news release.

“We are incredibly grateful that the first aid training each of our deputies receives was able to help this young man make it back home to his family,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in the release.

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©2021 Tampa Bay Times.

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