Students, faculty and staff at Whitewater High took part in the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Project S.A.V.E. first annual Sudden Cardiac Arrest Drill Day to ensure they know the proper procedures to take if someone at the school goes into cardiac arrest. Whitewater was the only school in the county that participated in the drill.
Coach Robert Townsend headed up the school’s drill after receiving information about it from School Health Services Coordinator Debbie King. Just like fire drills prepare students and staff for exiting safely in the event of a building fire, a Project S.A.V.E. drill prepares everyone in the event someone goes into cardiac arrest.
The drills are designed to be as realistic as possible, with a designated person acting as if they are going into cardiac arrest, exhibiting potential signs, and the surrounding students and staff responding quickly and calmly with CPR and AED intervention steps, which are performed on a CPR dummy placed next to the designated victim. All actions, starting with someone witnessing a person in cardiac distress and calling for help, to administering CPR and the AED, are timed and documented.
The Project S.A.V.E. Drill Day has been designated for the first Friday in February. All schools that participated in the drill will receive replacement AED pads for free from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta should they ever be used in an emergency.
