Marion County Schools working to be "Heart Safe" certified – WDTV

MARION COUNTY, W. Va. (WDTV) - When someone goes into cardiac arrest, they have about four minutes before irreversible and life threatening damage is done to their bodies.

To make sure schools are prepared, the West Virginia Heart Safe Schools Project was started.

WVU Medicine Children's hospital played a large role in establishing the project in the area.

John Phillips, the medical director for the project, says the very first step is making sure schools are equipped with an AED.

"An AED is an automated external defibrillator which is used to shock a patient into a normal heart rhythm from a life threatening rhythm,"

There are several conditions that could cause someone to need an AED.

For students, it is most likely a genetic condition that often isn't diagnosed until an emergency.

"Many of them are not recognized until the actual event," Phillips said "So somewhere around 80% of kids with these genetic abnormalities their first event will be sudden cardiac arrest,"

But the program protects more than just the lives of students.

"Statistically this program is more likely to save an adult than a child,"

Phillips says that over 90% of West Virginia schools already have at least one AED, the key is to make sure the school is prepared to use them.

For training in Marion County, their local emergency rescue squad steps in.

"If the need an AED, make sure we can find them some way to get that, CPR training with staff, and them emergency drills," said Donna Wade, the pediatric emergency care coordinator for Marion County

Being a team that responds to life threatening situations, the rescue squad knows how important these skills can be to saving a life.

"With CPR started immediately, to keep that blood flowing, greatly improves the outcome,"

Along with Marion County there are nine other counties involved with the heart safe schools project, working towards their designation.

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Marion County Schools working to be "Heart Safe" certified - WDTV