Making a Heartfelt Connection
A high school football player collapses at a game and stops breathing; a teacher has symptoms of a heart attack then drops to the floor unconscious in her classroom.
Instead of becoming part of the 450,000 people in the United States who succumb to cardiac arrest each year, these two individuals recovered fully - thanks to the automated external defibrillator (AED).
Often kept at airports and in police cars, the AED is a portable device that applies an electric shock to the heart muscle and allows it to resynchronize and beat normally again. Two states, Pennsylvania and New York, have enacted legislation mandating use of AEDs in schools.
School Defibrillator Challenge
In 2004, Children's Heart Center partnered with AED makers Medtronic and Philips Medical Systems to give the rescue device to local schools that participated in our School Defibrillator Challenge.
The challenge allows schools to get no-cost AEDs when they join Children's team and participate in the Puget Sound Heart Walk, the number one charitable walk in the nation.
Last year, the following schools received AEDs:
- Dick Scobee Elementary, Auburn
- Olympic Middle School, Auburn
- Edmonds Woodway High School, Edmonds
- Villa Academy, Seattle
Children's wants more area schools to be prepared for cardiac emergencies by owning this lifesaving device.
How To Participate
Schools simply join Children's team and recruit 100 walkers or raise a total of $2,500 for the 12th annual American Heart Association Puget Sound Heart Walk on September 24 at Qwest Field. All participating schools will receive a certificate from Children's for an AED.
"We're proud to strengthen the connection between schools and the Heart Association," says Anne Kinnaman, director, Heart Center. "It's a win-win partnership that reflects our commitment to research, education and advocacy. The Heart Association receives critical funding, while students learn about heart disease and help their schools obtain lifesaving equipment."
For more information about Children's School Defibrillator Challenge, call (206) 987-2984.