A Pembroke Pines school resource officer is being hailed a hero after stepping in to help save a high school student who suffered a medical emergency.
It wasn't the first time Officer Brian Maher faced a life or death emergency.
On Tuesday, a day before his 68th birthday, Maher heard a code blue medical alert at West Broward High. A 12th grade student had fallen unconscious on campus.
All Maher said he could think about was if she lived, he wouldn't want anything else for his birthday.
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He dashed up to the second floor of the Pembroke Pines campus, where another adult was already delivering CPR. But so far, it wasn't working.
"She yelled, 'go get the AED!'" Maher said, talking about the automatic external defibrillator, a life-saving device when it comes to cardiac arrest. Maher dashed downstairs for the device, and came back upstairs with it already on and ready to go.
Then, another rescuer applied the pads on the student. The machine directed them to apply a shock.
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"So I pushed the button, shocked her once, she bounces up a little, and she's in recovery," Maher said.
The machine then monitored the student's cardiac activity, but did not call for another shock. Maher knew the girl had survived.
"I've been involved in other saves over the years," he said. "Every time, it's amazing to be able to do that… I mean you brought somebody back to life."
Maher urges everyone to be trained in CPR and in using an AED.
Paramedics took the student to the hospital, and Maher later learned she was up and walking around that afternoon.
"There's no better feeling than that," he said.
