‘I owe my life to this school': CPR training helps teachers save security guard

Scott Weissman is grateful for a second chance at life after he had a heart attack while on the job.

“I owe my life to this school and these teachers for jumping in and doing what’s right in a timely fashion,” said Weissman, a security officer with Dynamic Integrated Security. 

It was the second day of school. Weissman was working his usual shift as a school security officer at Greentree Preparatory Charter School in Southwest Ranches when he suddenly collapsed. 

“All of a sudden I look to my side and Officer Scott is collapsed on the floor," said Elizabeth Gonzalez, the Director of Operations at Greentree Prepatory. "We immediately run to him, call 911 and we start assessing him."

Gonzalez was working the carpool line with a few other teachers when they saw Weissman drop to the floor. They thought it was heat exhaustion at first, but quickly realized this was something more serious. 

“In a few minutes he stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest,” Gonzalez said.

The teachers and staff didn’t waste any time and immediately sprang into action to help. It was a team effort as teachers Pam Farran, Monica Merchan, Jeannie Luna-Verdes and even one parent all traded off doing CPR on Weissman as he went into cardiac arrest twice until paramedics arrived. 

“The fact that we were able, as a team, to effectively communicate with each other and work one-on-one to be able to keep his heart going, that was a gift to just see him again, see him standing and see him blinking,” Luna-Verdes said.

“We have amazing teachers at our school, but we have three superheroes that actually performed the CPR for our officer and we are blessed,” Gonzalez said.

It just so happened that 10 days before this scare, the school staff had their annual CPR and First Aid training by officers from Dynamic Integrated Security. Gonzalez was proactive in offering this course to her staff every year, so the life-saving skills were fresh in their minds. 

“I’ve been given a second chance at life because of the program. I have to commend them for being such great students," Weissman said. "They’re educators, but they’re all excellent students and they took it to heart and they saved mine."

“We felt prepared not to just be bystanders, but people that were actually assisting in that moment and the training was effective and Officer Scott is living proof of that,” Luna-Verdes said.

Once Weissman arrived at the hospital, three stents were placed in his blocked artery as well as a defibrillator. 

It was a heartfelt reunion when the 47-year-old visited the school to thank the teachers who brought him back to life.

“My doctor told me that 19 out of 20 people would not be standing here today. This staff saved my life,” Weissman said.

It will take a couple of weeks before Weissman is fully recovered, but he is looking forward to returning to work soon so that he can continue serving kids in our community.