An ounce of prevention: Kansas Project ADAM provides CPR, AED training to Wichita Collegiate staff
More than 100 faculty and staff at Wichita Collegiate School benefited from the hands-on training, preparing them to act in a timely manner with skills that "can save lives."
It’s an old adage, but appropriate when being responsible for hundreds of students, parents and staff at school events.
That is Jenn Arneson’s thinking at Wichita Collegiate School “with the increase in traumatic events in schools and public forums. Having as many people prepared to act in a timely yet efficient manner can save lives.”
Arneson, BSN, RN, Collegiate’s nurse, learned about Kansas Project ADAM at the Kansas School Nurse Conference. She reached out to Aaron Ryan, the program coordinator and executive director of KU Wichita Medical Practice Association and he and Nisha Agasthya, M.D., FAAP, the program’s medical director and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics-Critical Care, coordinated a plan to meet Arneson’s needs during Collegiate’s Professional Development Week before the start of this school year.
Agasthya and Ryan spent Tuesday, Aug. 15, providing training on hands-only CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator to more than 100 faculty and staff members.
“Hands-only was the most effective way to educate our staff and faculty in CPR and the use of AEDs in a timely fashion,” said Arneson. “Many of our staff and faculty are currently CPR certified, so this served as a great refresher for everyone — certified or not.”
“We were proud to be a part of their community education and to better prepare the school for medical emergencies,” said Agasthya.
With close to 200 full- and part-time employees, Arneson’s goal is to have 100% of the staff CPR certified. This includes CPR certification for the upper school students and annual hands-only CPR training for the middle school students, too. She also would be delighted to see Collegiate become a Kansas Project ADAM School by the start of the 2024 school year, if not before.
“Our hands-only CPR/AED training was a great refresher for all our staff,” said Nathan Washer, head of school. “I appreciated the practical and simple instructions that gave all our staff more confidence to be prepared in this regard.”
Hands-only CPR is shown to be as effective as conventional CPR in the first few minutes of cardiac arrest. Seventy percent of cardiac arrest occurs outside a hospital, but only 40% receive immediate help before arrival of emergency services. American Heart Association now recommends bystanders to perform hands-only CPR for any witnessed or unwitnessed sudden cardiac event until conventional CPR can be performed. Receiving any kind of CPR doubles the odds of surviving a cardiac arrest compared with receiving no CPR1.
“Having been through many trainings in the past, the clear and concise nature of this one was a great refresher,” said Steve Naumann, director of marketing and communication. “I felt confident leaving that class, that I would be able to perform the skills covered.”
How to get involved
Kansas Project ADAM looks forward to partnering with local resources to broaden its reach for awareness and education of sudden cardiac arrest. For more information, please contact us at heartsafeks@kumc.edu and visit the Kansas Project ADAM website.
References:
- Riva G, Ringh M, Jonsson M, Svensson L, Herlitz J, Claesson A, Djärv T, Nordberg P, Forsberg S, Rubertsson S, Nord A, Rosenqvist M, Hollenberg J. Survival in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest After Standard Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or Chest Compressions Only Before Arrival of Emergency Medical Services: Nationwide Study During Three Guideline Periods. Circulation. 2019 Jun 4;139(23):2600-2609. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.038179. Epub 2019 Apr 1. PMID: 30929457.