Steve Vogt was in the middle of every parent’s worst nightmare as he bent over his motionless teenage son. The steps that he repeats to every one of his students ran through his head: Maintain an open airway, check breathing and circulation. Two breaths.

Then a more terrifying thought, “C’mon, Tyler, breathe.”

Tyler wasn’t breathing. He had no pulse. Steve asked his daughter to call 9-1-1.

Just moments before, Tyler had been talkative as he helped his father bring bags in from the truck. His 13-year-old sister and younger brother relaxed nearby in the living room. Father and son were chatting about how their week were going, and getting ready for the weekend. Then Steve’s healthy 16-year-old son collapsed, and his bag hit the floor.

Thinking that his son was goofing around, Steve started to admonish Tyler. His son’s still form made him realize this was not a teenage prank. A CPR instructor for the Red Cross, Steve went into automatic as he applied the steps he taught hundreds of times before.

Start CPR compressions. For a few precious minutes, Steve kept up the rate of 100 compressions per minute---the same rate that he had paced for students a hundred times before. Breath, breath. Compress the chest about 2 inches.

As his frantic daughter struggled to tell the dispatcher what was happening, Steve kept the cycle up, trying to forget the fact that he shared in his trainings: each minute without a defibrillation by an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) reduces the chance of survival by 10 percent. Later, he would find out that 95% of all victims of sudden cardiac arrest lose their life.

None of those facts mattered now. Like a metronome, Steve maintained his steady rhythm of compressions and breaths until Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel arrived just four minutes later with an AED.

“Everything was pretty automatic until EMS got there,” Steve admits. “Then I had to leave the room.”

As his son’s life, and his composure, hung in the balance, Steve sent his younger kids across the street to his parents’ home. Then he stood in the living room, listening as the EMS workers shocked his son once, then twice.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tyler’s pulse returned and he was transported to a local hospital then med-flighted for more advanced care. For the next few days, Steve concentrated on Tyler’s condition, as he regained consciousness and started to face the challenges that come with recovering from a sudden cardiac arrest.

It was during his constant vigil at his son’s bedside that the thoughts started to come.

“You start to play the ‘what if’ game. What if this had happened before I got home? Or when we went up to my cabin where there was no cell phone coverage? Or when we went to the Bucks game two weeks ago and Tyler stayed home alone?” Steve says, “Everything aligned that day.”

A little over a week later, Tyler was back in school with a new Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator in his chest. The device monitors his heart rhythm, controls any irregularities and can shock his heart if needed. Even with that tiny piece of comfort, Steve is now planning to hold a training for his family---everyone who is around Tyler on a regular basis---so they will have the life-saving skills if another emergency occurs.

For three years Steve has taught these skills to strangers, knowing that his words could one day save someone’s life. He never imagined it would be his son’s.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more. I have my son,” Steve stresses. “From this point forward, teaching those skills has taken on a whole new meaning.”

The American Red Cross in Southeastern Wisconsin relies on donations of time and money so they can provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies in Dodge, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth and Waukesha counties. To donate your time, please visit our Volunteer page. Financial donations can be made online through our secure contribution site.You can also support the Red Cross online by becoming a fan on our facebook page and following us on Twitter.