Grief Counselors Will Be Available At Two Schools Where Students Died Wednesday
By Tim Jimenez
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Grief counselors will be available at two area schools today, mourning the loss of students who died on Wednesday after medical emergencies. The first took place at Harrington Middle School in Mount Laurel. That's where officials say an eighth-grader died after collapsing during "routine activity" in gym class (see related story). The second incident took place at a South Philadelphia elementary school (see related story).
School District spokesman Fernando Gallard says it was about 2pm when a seven-year-old boy suffered a "medical emergency" at Jackson Elementary.
"The staff in the classroom provided the student with CPR and also were able to quickly get emergency services to come into the school."
The first-grader then died at Children's Hospital. Gallard says they can't comment on student medical histories so it's unclear if a pre-existing condition played a role. But Gallard confirms a school nurse was not on-duty.
"The nurse is a part-time nurse and is there on Thursdays and every other Friday."
He says they're not sure if the nurse would have made a difference in this case, staffers had CPR training and paramedics arrived within five minutes.
This is the second death in the distrct this school year in a place where a nurse wasn't available. The first was in October.
