When Levi Pocza, a Redmond eighth-grader in the Lake Washington School District, collapsed during his physical education class and went into cardiac arrest in November, teachers were able to quickly revive him and keep him stable until paramedics arrived — thanks to a donation made eight years earlier by the Issaquah Rotary Club and Rotary Club of Redmond Rousers.

In 2001, the clubs raised the funds to donate defibrillators to all the middle and high schools in the Issaquah and Lake Washington School Districts — a total of 19 devices.

The Issaquah Rotary Club invited Pocza and his parents to last week’s meeting for a ceremony celebrating efforts the club made, and the fact that Levi was able to stand with them.

“It’s just amazing,” said Clint Merriman, club member. “The rotary takes on a number of projects, and to have one of those projects actually save a life — to have Levi be here because of those efforts — is just thrilling.”

The push for having defibrillators available in schools has been around for quite some time, but it came to the Issaquah Rotary’s attention after a student at Inglewood Junior High School went into cardiac arrest in 2000 during a P.E. class. Coaches performed CPR on the student, and when paramedics arrived 10 minutes later, they were able to revive him — but after four minutes of unconsciousness, he had suffered severe, permanent brain damage.

A concerned parent raised the issue in Issaquah and the rotary quickly took charge of getting the devices in schools, Merriman said. The group planned a handful of fundraising events, including an autograph signing with the 2001 Seattle Mariners — the team that won a record-setting 116 games.

“The response was amazing,” said Merriman, who was the rotary’s vice president at the time. “There were close to 2,000 people packed down at Pickering Mall.”

The group also brought in emergency responders to provide information about the defibrillators.

The Rotary Club of Redmond Rousers hosted a similar event, and raised money by auctioning off Mariner’s memorabilia.

The turnout was enough to buy 11 devices, and along with a donation of eight by Physio-Control, Inc., enough to put in schools.

The Issaquah Rotary also provided training to at least one person on every campus on how to use the defibrillators. Now, it’s part of standard American Red Cross CPR training.

And upkeep on the device is simple — just change the batteries.

“We knew one day, these (defibrillators) would save a life,” Merriman said. “We didn’t know when, but we recognized the importance of them … and it’s truly an honor to get to know this young man and see him alive.”