18-year-old dies after cardiac arrest at Las Vegas charter school

A Las Vegas teenager died Sunday after suffering cardiac arrest at a southwest valley charter school, officials said.

Jordan Brister, 18, died at Southern Hills Hospital. The Clark County coroner’s office had not ruled on his cause of death as of Tuesday, but Amplus Academy officials said the high school senior suffered cardiac arrest Jan. 3 on campus and was hospitalized.

“Amplus Academy’s Crisis Response Team, including our school counselors, licensed therapists and social workers, are working to support students and staff as they process this grief,” officials from the charter school at 8377 W. Patrick Lane wrote in the statement.

Brister planned to join the military after graduating from high school, his family wrote in an online fundraiser.

“Words cannot express what the Brister family is going through and there will never be enough answers as to why this has happened,” the post states. “He was an amazing kid who loved life to the fullest.”

Brister’s death was at least the second reported death of a high school student in Clark County in the span of just a few days, following the collapse and subsequent death of Desert Oasis sophomore Ashari Hughes on Thursday during a flag football game.

The Clark County coroner’s office ruled Monday that Hughes, 16, died from a congenital heart condition.

Under state law, an automated external defibrillator — a device used to shock the heart and restore a heartbeat — is required on all high school campuses in Nevada. The Legislature in 2017 passed a law requiring that all public and private middle schools, junior highs and high schools instruct students on how to administer CPR and use a defibrillator.

But in 2018, the district also transferred several responsibilities, including legislatively mandated defibrillator services, to individual schools under the state-mandated reorganization law.

In a statement, the district said all of its high schools are equipped with a minimum of three automated external defibrillators, while middle schools are equipped with two. The district is also in the process of equipping each elementary school with a minimum of two AED devices.

The devices are serviced each year, and schools conduct an AED drill quarterly. A minimum of 10 staff members at each school, including all district coaches, are trained on the proper use of the devices, according to the district.

Athletic trainers, who undergo a monthly review of the emergency action plans for sporting events and conduct AED training every two months, are present at every athletic event at their assigned high schools, including practices.

In an account of the medical response following Hughes’ collapse posted to Facebook, a witness who identified herself as an off-duty nurse said she used an AED and performed chest compressions on Hughes before she was taken to the hospital.

The district would not answer questions about who provided Hughes with medical assistance at Thursday’s flag football game.

A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Jordan Brister’s name.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter. Contact Lorraine Longhi at 702-387-5298 or llonghi @reviewjournal.com. Follow @lolonghi on Twitter.