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A Mass. middle school basketball coach collapsed during a game. The opposing coach sprang into action.
Belmont Middle School coach Ian Haffer is credited with saving Waltham coach Ronnie Poirier's life after he suffered an apparent heart attack courtside last week.
A sudden medical emergency turned a middle school basketball game into a life-or-death moment Thursday night — but quick action by one coach wound up saving the life of another.
Belmont Middle School basketball coach Ian Haffer, a doctor and former hospital clinician, acted without hesitation when Waltham’s John F. Kennedy Middle School coach Ronnie Poirier collapsed early in the game.
A parent’s scream alerted Haffer to Poirier lying face-first on the court.
“I’m a medical doctor, even if I’m coaching — don’t even hesitate to help someone,” Haffer told Boston.com.
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Haffer quickly delivered a shock with the facility’s automated external defibrillator, a portable device used to treat cardiac arrest, followed by about two minutes of chest compressions and rescue breaths. A second shock was administered just before paramedics arrived, after which Haffer and others stepped aside, he said.
“Everyone just wanted Coach Ronnie [Poirier] to pull through and coach another day,” Haffer said. “Everyone worked together as best as it could have been handled as a traumatic event in the community.”
Poirier is now in the ICU and able to communicate, though extensive testing is ongoing, said Haffer, who said he learned about Poirier’s condition from Waltham’s principal.
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“The Waltham boys players, I can only imagine what they were going through seeing their coach. We form a really strong bond with our kids coaching them every day,” Haffer said.
Haffer said the Belmont Middle School has done a great job of ensuring their students are OK after the event, performing check-ins to see how they’ve been doing.
“I’m responsible for 32 players, and the school did a great job of checking in with them throughout the day,” Haffer said.
Haffer emphasized that teamwork helped save Poirier’s life.
“Everyone helped in whatever way that was needed,” he said.
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