He was eight years old, playing at recess like any other day, when his heart suddenly stopped. He had an undiagnosed heart condition called CPVT, a rare arrhythmia disorder no one knew he had, and that part was not the school's fault. What happened in the minutes after his heart stopped was. The security guard on duty tried to perform CPR but was not trained in child CPR. There was no AED, no automated external defibrillator, anywhere on campus, and no staff trained to use one. Every minute that passed without proper CPR and defibrillation reduced his chance of surviving without permanent brain damage, and by the time paramedics restored his heartbeat he had suffered a severe anoxic brain injury. He survived, and he will need lifetime care. This school district CPR failure case resolved for $17.5 million.
$17.5M
Settlement for the child's lifetime care
8
Years old, injured during recess
AEDs on campus at the time
On May 1, 2018, an eight-year-old third-grader at Anderson Elementary School in Compton was playing during recess when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. The cause, doctors later determined, was Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia, known as CPVT, a rare genetic heart rhythm disorder that had never been diagnosed and that his family had no way of knowing he had. A school security guard responded and attempted CPR, but the guard had not been trained in CPR techniques appropriate for a child, and the school had no automated external defibrillator on site and no staff trained to use one even if one had been available. Precious minutes passed before paramedics arrived with the equipment and training needed to properly respond to a child in cardiac arrest. By the time his heart rhythm was restored, the lack of oxygen to his brain during those critical minutes had caused a severe anoxic brain injury. He survived, but he will require extensive medical and supportive care for the rest of his life.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the child through a guardian ad litem on April 24, 2019, presented a causation argument that shaped the entire case. CPVT causing sudden cardiac arrest is a rare, unpredictable medical event that was not the school district's fault. But cardiac arrest from CPVT is often survivable without permanent brain damage when CPR and defibrillation are administered promptly and correctly. Medical literature establishes that with each passing minute without proper intervention, the chance of surviving without brain damage drops significantly, by some estimates roughly ten percent per minute. The family was not arguing the school caused his heart to stop. They were arguing that the district's failure to have trained staff and basic life-saving equipment on campus turned a survivable cardiac event into a permanent, catastrophic brain injury.
The district could not have prevented the cardiac event, so the case focused entirely on the response that followed it.
The case conceded that the undiagnosed CPVT was not the school's fault and focused on the second, distinct link in the chain: a prompt, correct emergency response would likely have prevented or reduced the anoxic brain injury that actually resulted.
The school principal testified under oath that the district should have had staff trained in child CPR and an AED available on campus, and admitted the district had neither. A district's own leadership acknowledging a known, correctable gap is powerful evidence of a breach of the duty schools owe students.
Expert testimony translated the medical literature into the facts of this case, showing how the minutes lost without proper CPR and defibrillation connected directly to the severity of the brain injury.
Together these points established that a survivable event became a permanent injury because the campus was not prepared.
Because a school district is a public entity, a claim like this typically proceeds under California Government Code section 815.2, which makes the district liable for injury proximately caused by an employee's act or omission within the scope of employment, to the same extent as a private employer. California courts also recognize that schools owe students a heightened duty of supervision and care, a duty that includes reasonable readiness to respond to foreseeable medical emergencies, not merely an obligation to prevent every possible harm. Because the injured plaintiff was a child, any resolution required court approval through a minor's compromise proceeding, an added layer of judicial review that California law requires to confirm a settlement is fair and adequately protects a child's long-term interests.
The case proceeded in Los Angeles County Superior Court and, through mediation, resolved for $17.5 million on February 2, 2021. Because the case involved a minor, the settlement was approved through a minor's compromise proceeding. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome, and every case turns on its own facts. The Homampour Law Firm handles cases involving school medical emergencies on a contingency fee basis, advancing the costs of the case, so families pay nothing unless there is a recovery.
The breakdowns below cover the heightened duty of care California schools owe, the two-part medical causation argument in a cardiac arrest case, public entity vicarious liability under Government Code section 815.2, and how a multidisciplinary expert team is assembled for a school medical emergency claim.
The heightened duty schools owe
Proving the response caused the injury
Public entity vicarious liability
Building the expert team
We try catastrophic injury and school liability cases against government defendants as counsel or co-counsel and pay statutory referral fees.
Refer a caseOn May 1, 2018, an eight-year-old third-grader at a Compton elementary school suffered sudden cardiac arrest at recess due to an undiagnosed heart condition called CPVT, and the school's inadequate CPR response and lack of an AED led to a severe anoxic brain injury.
The principal testified under oath that the district should have had staff trained in child CPR and an AED on campus, and acknowledged the district had neither at the time of the incident.
The case settled for $17.5 million on February 2, 2021, following mediation, with the settlement subject to court approval through a minor's compromise proceeding because the plaintiff was a child.
