CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County is the sixth school in Virginia and the first public school in Central Virginia to earn a heart-safe designation from Project ADAM.
Launched in 1999 in memory of Adam Lemel, a Wisconsin high school student who died after he suffered cardiac arrest during a basketball game, program leaders said they've saved 200 lives.
Virginia's program launched this year and schools need to meet 14 criteria to become heart-safe. Those criteria include CPR training and crafting a response plan.
"The survivability of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and children is about 8%. But when you take a program like they've done here at Meadowbrook High School today, that increases the survivability up to perhaps as high as over 60%," Dr. John Phillips, Pediatric Cardiologist with Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, said. "The more people that know about sudden cardiac arrest, how to recognize it, how to perform hands-only CPR and to be comfortable with an AED and automated external defibrillator, the more likely they are to be a lay rescuer out in your community."
High-profile heart-related scares involving athletes Damar Hamlin and Bronny James have helped bring more attention to the importance of being equipped to handle these potentially life-or-death situations.
Meadowbrook High School school nurse Christine Tindall said she created cards letting students know where all AEDs are in the school and the steps for CPR.
"Most of them actually had it down pretty good," Tindall said. "They just needed some guidance on locking their arms when they're doing CPR."
Project ADAM organizers said they're looking to designate more than just schools and welcome inquiries from groups like churches or youth sports teams.
Chesterfield Schools said its goal is to have all high schools designated by the end of the school year and then expand to the middle and elementary schools.
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