A life-saving call
AED, CPR training saves 2 lives in Azle ISD
Three years ago, one quick phone call to Cook Children’s made the difference in life and death. Not once, but twice.
Administration from Azle ISD Health Services contacted Laura Friend, Cook Children’s Project ADAM coordinator, to help guide and support the school district with implementing an automated external defibrillator (AED) emergency action plan and staff training on the use of an AED and CPR. Training was provided in 2011 to school nurses, coaches and administrators.
Just in time to save a seventh grade football player’s life. Later that year, the player was revived on the field, using the AED, after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest.
The AED proved invaluable again on March 28, 2014, when a teacher at Eagle Heights Elementary collapsed. In less than three minutes from the time the staff member collapsed, the Eagle Heights Emergency Response Team was on site administering CPR and the AED. The staff member responded to the treatment and was transported to a local hospital. Emergency room personnel and cardiac nurses commented that because of the response of Eagle Heights Emergency Response Team, a life was saved.
Cook Children’s Project ADAM provides schools in our state with training and implementing emergency action plans. Texas has a law requiring all schools to have an AED on campus. Most Texas schools have approximately 3 percent of their staff certified in CPR and AED use.
“When schools have been trained and you have a plan in place, lives can be saved from sudden cardiac arrest," said Meagen Driskill, director of the Cook Children’s Heart Center. “The emergency plan and staff training are critical. Without a written plan and practicing how to respond to an emergency, you’ll have chaos. School-based CPR and AED programs establish a community of first responders. First responders improve the likelihood of survival for students, school staff and visitors with sudden cardiac arrest, and should be encouraged in all schools.”
