Two minutes was always enough time to finish eating a Pop Tart…until it wasn’t: my experience with cardiac arrest in high school chemistry class

Abstract

For everyone ambling into high school chemistry on the morning of 20 April 2022, the day seemed as life-changing as you would expect from a group of teenagers preparing for an hour-long stoichiometry lesson. I was a sophomore student at Station Camp High School in Gallatin, Tennessee. Like every morning, the bell would ring, students would take their seats and our teacher (Coach Bartlett) would begin class. It is interesting how we define seemingly meaningless times in our lives. We even have phrases like ‘killing time’ to characterise these throwaway moments. I looked down at my watch. I had plenty of time to eat my strawberry Pop Tart before class started. Coach Bartlett worked hard to challenge students but was also flexible and laid-back enough to let students eat in his classroom before class. This was important for me; as a varsity track and cross-country runner, I typically ran around 65 kilometres a week. Regional championships were coming up, and I had a good shot at helping my team place by running in the 1600 m and 3200 m races. I was satisfied with my personal best mile time of 04:55 and 5K time of 17:50 but was looking forward to shaving a few more seconds off my times. The difference between good and great is only a matter of seconds. Munching on my much-needed calorie source, I glanced down …