Fairview Elementary School has earned the designation as “Project ADAM Heart Safe,” the only school here in Jackson County and this part of Western North Carolina to achieve this special recognition.
For someone suffering from sudden cardiac arrest, the best chance of saving a life is within the first four minutes. It can happen to anyone, at any age, at any time, and teachers at Fairview are ready, thanks to school nurse Amanda Bowers and a dedicated team ready to respond.
“We have over 800 students enrolled here at Fairview and more than 100 teachers and staff members,” said Bowers who is not just the school nurse at Fairview but a public health nurse with the Jackson County Public Health Department.
Bowers said she discovered Project ADAM Heart Safe during a school nurse conference a few years ago. She wanted to bring it to Fairview, recognizing that an emergency might happen at school when she is not available. Since then, she developed a cardiac response team of teachers and staff members at the school to respond to medical emergencies.
Dr. Salim Idriss is the director of Project ADAM North Carolina and the director of Pediatric Electrophysiology at Duke Medical Center in Durham, and he is encouraged by the enthusiasm that Bowers brings to the program which began after a school medical emergency years ago.
“Project Adam started in Wisconsin after the death of Adam Lemel, a teenager who was playing sports and had a cardiac arrest and subsequently died,” said Idriss. “His parents wanted to do something in Adam’s name. In fact, Project ADAM stands for that – Automated Defibrillators in Adam’s Memory.”
Survival rates decrease by 7-10 percent with each minute of delayed defibrillation, according to Project ADAM. Response time for emergency medical services in an urban area is about six minutes; that time doubles in a rural area like we have here in Western North Carolina. Having a team in place at the school ready to respond to save the life of a child, faculty, or visitors to the school is paramount. Immediate CPR – Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – and the availability and use of an AED – Automated External Defibrillator – can double or triple a person’s chance of survival. While schools often conduct several other drills, a medical emergency drill like this is top priority.
Idris conducted two medical drills at Fairview in different locations in the school on Jan. 30 to officially certify the school’s designation. In the first drill, a young student suffered cardiac arrest in the library, and then another student in a classroom.
Jeremy Ellenburg is the athletic director and teaches physical education at Fairview; he is also an integral part of the cardiac response team and realizes just how important a role he has. He says “If there’s an emergency, we are the first ones to respond to it. You’ve got to realize that you’re working to save somebody’s life.”
“Not only can children have a cardiac arrest, but you can have all the adults here, any relatives that are visiting, anywhere,” said Idriss. “Any aged child can have a cardiac arrest as well as adults. So having the whole school system prepared is critical.”
Jackson County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Dana Ayers said that the safety of students is top priority and this project helps.
“Becoming a designated Project ADAM Heart Safe school is a significant accomplishment for Fairview and demonstrates the proactive steps we take to protect our school community.” Ayers said.
Idriss started Project ADAM here in North Carolina a few years ago, and now there are more than three dozen schools in the state that are designated as Project ADAM schools. Nationwide, there are more than 49 affiliates in 33 states. More than 250 lives have been saved at Project ADAM Heart Safe sites. Find out more by going to www.projectadam.com.
“I’m just really excited,” Bowers said. “Hopefully going forward, we’re going to implement this in other schools so that the whole of Jackson County can have Project ADAM in their schools as well.”
