AMP Staffing Nurse Saves a Child’s Life at Louisiana School

A Louisiana nurse is being hailed as a hero after saving a 7-year-old student’s life. Althea Collins, a registered nurse with Advantage Medical Professionals (AMP), was working as a school nurse at a rural elementary school the morning of December 2nd, when she was notified of a Code Blue, unresponsive child. Upon arriving to the classroom, she immediately leapt into action and performed CPR on the child, who had suffered an unresponsive episode. While she was performing CPR, she instructed school staff to dispatch emergency services and get additional supplies in order to stimulate the child.

Collins, a longtime AMP partner had been working on-site since the beginning of the school year. A Southern University graduate, Collins has served as a registered nurse and had previously partnered with AMP to fill her needs as a Director of Nursing in the Baton Rouge area over her career spanning more than two decades.

Her heroic efforts were not hindered by the potential threat of COVID19 as she performed CPR on the child. Collins said providing life-saving measures is just part of her job and didn’t think twice about her actions to help the child in distress.

“When you’re in a hospital setting and you call Code Blue, 50 people are going to come. That was not the case in this setting. Everyone was looking at me for instruction. It was like a scene from a movie,” said Collins.

Nurse Collins states that she wants people to take away the importance of CPR and proper equipment because it could mean the difference between life and death. Most importantly, she stresses the importance of contracting a medical professional to be on staff. Collins stated that the child was treated at the hospital and has since recovered.

“Nurse Collins did not allow the threat of COVID-19 to keep her from doing what she was trained to do – care for others and save lives. She saw a child in crisis and took action. Even after Nurse Collins had saved this 7-year old’s life, she did not voice a concern over possibly exposing herself to COVID-19. Her concern was and remains for the safety and well-being of the child,” said school district Director of Human Capital. “Nurse Collins is our hero, and today we give a special thanks to God for her presence in our district.”