Argade addressed cardiac arrest emergency preparedness in Alabama public schools by reinforcing CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) education to school staff. Argade assisted school faculty through email, phone, and personalized visits to help organize and implement the cardiac emergency drills in public schools. The project included the placement of an AED on campus and education on how to use it; the creation of a designated cardiac emergency response team and a written cardiac emergency response plan; as well as the initiation of an AED/CPR emergency drill conducted by school faculty at least once a year.

As a result of the program:

• The lives of a child were saved at two different schools because of the practice of emergency drills.
• 27,696 student lives are being positively impacted by school faculty through the implementation of cardiac emergency drills and learning the importance of CPR and AED use.
• 59 schools have started implementing cardiac emergency drills at least once a year.
• School nurses have stated the importance of conducting emergency drills and feel the need to practice them more than just once a year to make schools a safer environment.

Project Lifestart, through the leadership of Cris Brown and others at Children’s Hospital, is committed to sustaining the program.

“The desire to help people is usually one of the reasons people enter into a career path as a healthcare professional. However, participating in the Schweitzer Fellowship this year has also taught me that it is also incredibly important to recognize how much you can impact the community in your own backyard. This experience has taught me that service can extend outside of healthcare settings (clinics, hospitals, etc.) to create a greater impact in determinants of health.”