Davis High School staff save teacher, thanks to sudden cardiac preparedness training

A high school teacher’s life was saved, thanks to the quick response of staff at Davis Senior High School. The staff were trained last year through Project ADAM Sacramento. The UC Davis Children’s Hospital program provides free training to prepare schools and communities for sudden cardiac arrest emergencies.

When a teacher at Davis Senior High School collapsed on campus before school in March, staff knew what to do immediately. They called 9-1-1 and started CPR, administering two shocks with an automated external defibrillator (AED). A crew from the Davis Fire Department arrived shortly after and took over resuscitation efforts on the ambulance ride to the hospital until the teacher’s pulse returned.

Rebecca McCormac, Project ADAM Sacramento coordinator, said that she was thrilled to hear about these life-saving efforts. She worked with the district nurses at Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) to create a framework for their district that included CPR/AED training, cardiac emergency response planning and drills in 2023. DJUSD is the first school district in California to receive a Heart Safe School certification.

“The DJUSD nurses embraced our comprehensive Heart Safe School program and made sure that every school has people who know how to respond to someone who is unresponsive. As a result of the district nurses’ hard work, the staff at Davis High did not hesitate to execute the Cardiac Chain of Survival. As a result, their colleague survived.”

Project ADAM Sacramento, in collaboration with the Kyle J. Taylor Foundation and UC Davis Health, will host its next free youth heart screening at Harper Junior High School in Davis on Oct. 6. The event will help identify youth ages 12 to 25 with undiagnosed heart conditions. It will include a cardiac risk assessment, an electrocardiogram (EKG) and a physician review. Online registration will open in August.

Project ADAM is a national, nonprofit organization committed to saving lives through advocacy, education, preparedness and collaboration to prevent sudden cardiac death. The Project ADAM Sacramento team focuses on prevention training and education for local schools and the community, helping them become Heart Safe Schools and supporting their efforts to be equipped and trained to respond to sudden cardiac arrest. The Sacramento arm of Project ADAM is based at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. For more information, visit the website.