In 2015, the American Heart Association (AHA) reported over 326,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest events. When cardiac arrest events occur outside of the hospital, the average survival rate is just 10.3 percent.But did you know that survival rates are three times higher if the event is witnessed by a bystander? And when a victim receives assistance, even by a lay bystander, the chances of survival can double, and in some cases triple! [1]

Take Action and Saves Lives

The first minutes of a cardiac emergency are the most critical, and even the best emergency medical services (EMS) personnel can’t reach victims right away. A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that people who suffer cardiac arrest on the upper floors of high-rise buildings are less likely to survive than those on the lowest floors. The higher floors are associated with longer response times for EMS personnel to reach victims, and they directly correlate to lower survival rates.[2]

But with a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP), we can help bridge the gap between a cardiac emergency and the arrival of EMS personnel. A CERP is a written document that outlines specific steps to take when a cardiac emergency occurs. According to the AHA, “A carefully orchestrated response to cardiac emergencies will reduce deaths in school settings and help ensure that chaos does not lead to an improper or inadequate response.” [3]

Is Your Cardiac Emergency Response Plan Complete?

Essential parts of a CERP include making sure that you have adequate staff on hand who are trained in CPR. When CPR is performed, even by a lay bystander, a victim’s chance of survival is greatly improved. Products like the AHA’s CPR in Schools Training Kit is an essential tool for training staff and students the proper way to perform CPR.

A CERP will also include making sure your school has enough AEDs, and that your AEDs are properly located. Remember that timing immediately after a cardiac emergency is critical. The number of AEDs at your school should be sufficient to enable your response team to retrieve an AED and respond to a victim within two minutes, both inside the school and on the school grounds. AEDs should have clear signage and should always be in locations that are always accessible. School Health offers a full line of AEDs and accessories to make sure that your school has the equipment you need.

Proper maintenance of AEDs is also critical. Imagine the nightmare scenario of investing in an AED program but not maintaining it. Suddenly a cardiac emergency occurs and your AED is retrieved only to find that the pads or batteries have expired. We hear from people who try to maintain their AED program using an Excel spreadsheet, but that is simply not enough – especially when your campus contains many AEDs or AEDs distributed across campus locations.

School Health Brand AED Program Management helps you manage all the AEDs at your location and even across your campus.  What’s more, this system tracks all your responder certifications so you know that each person on your cardiac emergency response team has proper and continuous training. And, it keeps you compliant with local and state regulations by automatically registering your AEDs with local EMS services. You will even receive direct updates about changes to the regulations in your area.

When you have a complete CERP and include these essential elements, you can save lives when a cardiac emergency occurs. School Health works directly with the AHA to make sure that we can provide the products and information you need to be prepared. If you would like a consultation or on-site visit to discuss your CERP or lifesaving products for your school, please contact us.

[1] http://www.sca-aware.org/sca-news/aha-releases-2015-heart-and-stroke-statistics

[2] http://www.cmaj.ca/content/188/6/413

[3] http://cpr.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@ecc/documents/downloadable/ucm_477110.pdf

Each year, approximately 7,000 children age 18 or younger experience sudden cardiac arrest outside a hospital with survival rates of less than 10 percent. Immediate CPR can double or triple someone’s chance of survival, which is important for schools since children spend at least one-third of their days in this environment.

Yet only 34 states require CPR training and hands-on practice as a high school graduation requirement and just four mandate school planning for sudden cardiac arrest. That leaves 15 states and the District of Columbia without laws related to CPR, AEDs or cardiac emergency response plans (CERPs) in schools.

Last month, School Nurse published a policy statement from the American Heart Association advocating for state laws requiring the implementation of CERPs in K-12 schools. Cardiac Emergency Response Planning for Schools: A Policy Statement provides a national model for K-12 schools to develop, implement, practice and evaluate a CERP, while addressing the legal aspects and critical nature of training and drills in bringing a CERP to fruition.

The statement recommends that all schools have a CERP in place that contains the following minimum, evidence-based core elements:

• Establishing a cardiac emergency response team


• Activating the team in response to a sudden cardiac arrest


• Implementing automated external defibrillator (AED) placement and routine maintenance within the school (similar to fire extinguisher protocols)


• Disseminating the plan throughout the school campus


• Maintaining ongoing staff training in CPR/AED use


• Practicing using drills (akin to fire and lockdown drills)


• Integrating local EMS with the plan


• Ongoing and annual review and evaluation of the plan.

Monica Martin Goble, MD, AHA volunteer and pediatric cardiologist at the University of Michigan Congenital Heart Center, was co-chair of the working group that authored the paper. She says, “Every minute counts in sudden cardiac arrest. The safety of students, school staff and visitors will only be enhanced by school teams that feel empowered to administer lifesaving care until EMS arrives.” 

A key component to high-quality CPR training is a psychomotor component, or hands-on training. Programs like the AHA’s CPR in Schools Training Kit™ enable students to learn the lifesaving skills of CPR in just one class period. Plus, the kit teaches AED use and choking relief. For school administrators interested in developing a plan, a CERP toolkit, including the policy statement and an accompanying “Policy-in-Brief” can be accessed at heart.org/cerp.

This October, we invite you to join the AHA and School Health as we work together to increase survival from sudden cardiac arrest, especially in school settings. #CPRSavesLives

CPR and AED Awareness Week is Every June 1-7

Statistically speaking, did you know that if you are called on to give CPR in an emergency, you will most likely be trying to save the life of someone you love? This could be a parent, child, friend, or a student.

June 1-7 is National CPR and AED Awareness Week. In 2007, the American Heart Association worked collaboratively with the American Red Cross and the National Safety Council to federally designate a National CPR and AED Awareness Week. On December 13, 2007, Congress unanimously passed a resolution to set aside this week each year to spotlight how lives can be saved if more Americans know CPR and how to use an AED. In the declaration, Congress asked states and municipalities to make AEDs more publicly accessible. Schools around the country emphasize the importance of CPR and AED use during this week each year with CPR/AED classes and live events/demonstrations that are conducted.

The AHA invites you to celebrate National CPR and AED Awareness Week in your school. To help get you started, we have created FREE materials that you can print on your school’s printer. Simply visit heart.org/cprweek to access these materials which can be used by themselves or in conjunction with an existing CPR course, like the CPR in Schools Training Kit.

Join the AHA and its Mission to Increase Survival from Cardiac Arrest

We are asking all educators to please take a few minutes out of your day to learn a potentially lifesaving skill. In just 90 seconds, you can learn the two simple steps to Hands-Only CPR by watching this video and sharing the link with your students and co-workers.

Thank you for learning how to save a life!