Faculty member recognized for life-saving CPR on neighbor

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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 minu