Amherst teams train for cardiac emergencies as EMS partnership deepens
A previous version of this story quoted the wrong coach. We have corrected the error and apologize.
By Brandi Makuski
AMHERST — Coaches and athletes at Amherst High School are spending part of practice time on something they hope they never have to use: what to do if an athlete collapses from sudden cardiac arrest.
Over the past year, the district has rolled out hands-on drills, expanded access to automated external defibrillators and tightened emergency plans for every sport and venue, working closely with the Amherst Fire District.
The effort grew out of a video shared this spring about Matthew Mangine Jr., a Northern Kentucky high school soccer player who collapsed during conditioning in June 2020, said Jodi Waltenberg, the athletic trainer at Amherst High School.
“I don’t want this to happen at Amherst,” Waltenberg said. “We don’t want that to happen here.”
Waltenberg said Amherst has had an emergency action plan for sports for years, but recently took it further by breaking plans down by location and by sport — spelling out who calls 911, who grabs an AED and who starts CPR if an athlete goes down.
Then they practice it.
Drills typically run about 10 minutes, roughly the amount of time it takes for EMS to arrive.
“It takes the panic out of it,” Waltenberg said. “Nobody is standing there wondering what they’re supposed to do.”
Amherst Fire District assistant chief Adam Meshak said the work reflects a broader change in how EMS and athletic trainers operate together, moving away from a “my patient, your patient” mindset.
“It’s not about turf anymore,” Meshak said. “It’s our patient, and we work it together.”
That collaboration has included aligning protocols, using consistent location language so dispatch and responders are on the same page, and placing EMS providers on the field during higher-risk sports.
Access to AEDs has also been a major focus, especially for away games. Amherst has six AEDs on campus, but officials said they can’t assume the same level of access at other schools or off-site fields.
After coaches were briefed in August, the soccer program stepped up to help fund additional AEDs, while the fire district provided two more units on long-term loan. Teams now bring AEDs with them when they travel.
Amherst High School basketball coach Kevin Vander Laan said the hands-on training has resonated with students.
“I’ve been teaching CPR for 20 years, but I don’t have the experience they have,” Vander Laan said. “When EMS comes in, they’re not just teaching the material — they’re telling real stories about what they’ve seen.”
He said students have also benefited from seeing emergency equipment up close.
“They bring the AEDs, they bring the ambulance, and the kids can actually go out and see what everything does,” Vander Laan said. “That makes it real.”
The Amherst boys basketball team conducted its own AED and sudden cardiac arrest drill late last year, part of a wider rollout that has continued into 2026.
Vander Laan said stories of athletes surviving cardiac arrest because people acted quickly reinforce why the training matters.
“They save the kid, he’s alive, and the first thing he asks is, ‘When can I get back in?’” Vander Laan said. “That only happens when people are ready and the equipment is there.”
Waltenberg said coaches and athletes have embraced the drills, and students’ CPR training through health classes has made it easier to involve them directly.
“I see a lot more confidence,” she said. “They know what to do now.”
Amherst Fire District assistant chief Adam Meshak said the goal is simple.
“We hope we never need it,” he said. “But if we do, we want to know we were ready.”