Faculty member recognized for life-saving CPR on neighbor | Featured#

Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue recently honored Lissette Medina for quick actions that saved her 8-year-old neighbor’s life.

Last summer, Medina, a physician assistant who is a 2006 alumna and a faculty member in the Physician Assistant Program at FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, had just arrived home with her two daughters when a neighbor urgently asked for help. While another neighbor stayed to watch Medina’s children, she rushed towards the sound of frantic cries.

“I saw a little boy unresponsive on the side of the pool, his mother on the phone with 911,” said Medina. “I said, ‘I’m a physician assistant. I know CPR.’ Something came over me that told me to stop thinking and just do.”

Medina performed CPR for seven-and-a-half minutes until rescue crews arrived. She then helped first responders with suction and intubation as they took over care. The child, Dylan Smith, spent nearly two months recovering at Holtz Children’s Hospital, the same hospital where Medina works. She visited Dylan and his family frequently to check on his progress. “From our understanding, this was a really rare case—typically, they don’t make it,” she said.

Dylan’s mom, Tiffany Smith, told a local news station that the youngster and his sister were taking turns to see who could hold their breath the longest. “Dylan, being the resilient Dylan he is, pushed it too far and suffered from shallow-water blackout,” she explained.