A school nurse and a physical education teacher in Glens Falls were hailed as heroes in early February for reviving a 7-year-old child who collapsed during gym class.

Bryan Seybolt, a physical education teacher at Big Cross Street Elementary School, and Janel Martinez, a nurse at the school in Warren County, administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and used an Automated External Defibrillator to restart 7-year-old Adam Chen's heart after he collapsed. Seybolt and Martinez are members of the Glens Falls Teachers Association, led by Andrea Winter-Barclay.

"Janel and Bryan are heroes who acted and saved a life," said NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi, adding that the fact the school had an AED was essential. "Teachers and parents worked hand-in-hand to ensure that every school has one of these devices within reach."

NYSUT took up the issue of AEDs in schools in 2001 after Port Jervis parent Rachel Moyer lost her son to a cardiac event. Fifteen-year-old Gregory Moyer collapsed during a school basketball game and could not be revived — in part because no AED was present.

Moyer, a teacher and union activist, and NYSUT leaders worked with parents' groups toward passage of a law in 2002 requiring AEDs in every school. Dozens of incidents in which lives have been saved at school events with AEDs have been documented since then.

Also active in the legislative work leading up to the union-backed law were Karen and John Acompora, a Long Island couple whose son Louis died in 2000 after being hit in the chest during a lacrosse game.