Teams of employees have been trained how to handle a cardiac emergency within each of Carroll County’s schools.
A new law requires each school district to have a plan for cardiac emergencies. District Health Coordinator Alyssa Walls has been working on the unfunded mandate for months. She noted the district has spent over $24,000 on AED (automated external defibrillator) supplies this school year.
Each building has at least one AED and its cardiac response team members are trained to use the device. Documentation of who is on the cardiac response team is posted in a central location in the school offices and classrooms. Locations of all AEDs are also marked on a map by the front door to each school.
Walls has also been working to give CPR training to school personnel. Next year, all of the district’s school nurses will be certified to conduct CPR training so the number of people who learn this life-saving measure will increase.
The cardiac response team undergoes two simulations a year. The first was in August and the second will be in January.
“You can’t rehearse it enough,” Walls said. “It’s so different when you actually have to do it.”
The teams have practiced their response within the school buildings and at athletic events.
“Alyssa and her team have worked extremely hard putting the cardiac plan into place. I am proud of the work they have done to help ensure we have safer schools for our students and staff,” said Chief Operating Officer and Director of Pupil Personnel Mark Willhoite. He also thanked the board of education for investing in the additional AED machines. “Student and staff safety is, and will always be, our top priority,” Willhoite added.