The Kentucky Children's Hospital teams up with FCPS to ensure students are 'heart safe'

A cardiac arrest drill was held at Fredrick Douglas High School this morning, making all the high schools in the district recognized as ‘heart safe.’
The alert went out over security radios and intercoms at Fredrick Douglas as a simulation of a cardiac arrest began. School staff members who have been trained to use a defibrillator jumped into action.

It is all part of Project Adam, a nonprofit program through the Kentucky Children’s Hospital that assists with on-site life-saving education and training.
Dr. Shaun Mohan says the goal is to ensure schools have a response plan in place for a cardiac emergency.

“The scary thing is that this is a rare occurrence, but when it happens, time is hard. Essentially, it’s the sooner you recognize it, the sooner you start CPR and gain that AED. The chance of resuscitation. Getting someone back to their pre-arrest cognition improves by three-fold.”

According to the American Heart Association, thousands of cardiac arrests happen in the U.S. daily and heart disease has been the #1 killer in the country for more than a century.
Fredrick Douglas Principal Lester Diaz plans to expose the entire staff to the training in August before students return.

“You know, you hope, but it’s just a matter of time. You have to be prepared. You have to have all your drills, all your emergency procedures, the communication plan to make sure that we are ready for any emergency that may arise at a school.”

Receiving the heart safe school designation means a school has taken all necessary steps to safeguard the health of students.