We are very proud of DHS student, Jarrett Rheeder, as he performed multiple lifesaving performances this summer at camp. The following are descriptions of the events from his father.
The first event happened after one of his classes were done for the day. The scouts left the water and went to the shelter to change out of their wet clothes. One of the scouts had a seizure. The scout fell to the ground and hit his head on the table in such a manner that it started bleeding. Jarrett saw it and immediately assessed the situation. Jarrett saw that the scout was non-responsive and could not feel a pulse. He immediately started with CPR until the health officers arrived. He was not the only one in the situation, but he was the person doing the CPR. One scout went and got the medical bag, while another went to call the health officers and another took the rest of the scouts away from the situation to a different location. The scout was taken to the hospital and was cleared by the doctors and he came back to camp the following day.
The second occasion happened when his paddle board class and another instructor's kayaking class ended for the day. One of the scouts on a kayak decided to tip one of the paddle boards. The scout on the paddle board saw it and as the scout from the kayak jumped to the paddle board he jumped to the kayak. Missing the kayak he bumped his head against it and fell in the water. Now the scouts are all wearing life jackets, but those life jackets that keep you from sinking but not keeping your head out of the water. The scout must have lost consciousness for a moment as Jarrett saw that his head was hanging in the water. He jumped in with his clothes and swam to the scout and tilted him on his back to get his head out of the water and keeping his head in the right position. One of the other instructors also jumped in and brought a paddle board to where the situation was. Both Jarrett and the other instructor flipped the paddle board in a process called paddle board rescue. By doing that, the injured scout was able to turn onto the paddle board. They moved him to the dock and during that time the scout gain consciousness and was fully aware of his environment.
The third occasion was not at the water. One of the scouts was stung by a bee. The scout is allergic to bee sting and although he did have his EpiPen with him, he was unable to inject himself. The other scouts did not know what to do when he approached them. Jarrett saw it and took control over the situation. He grabbed the EpiPen and injected the scout.
On a different note. Jarrett helped a scout who could not complete his swim test. He jumped into the water and swam the whole test next to the scout encouraging him to keep on pushing to the finish line. He told the scout that he could hang on to him when he gets tired and that he will be with him all the way to the finish. Just Jarrett's encouragement helped the scout to push and not give in or used Jarrett. The scout's parents witnessed it and afterwards thanked Jarrett and even let the camp director know of Jarrett's act.
We are very proud of Jarrett and his quick actions which saved multiple lives!