Photo Provided Staff at Bridgeport Exempted Village School District join in a training exercise on how to render aid in the event of a cardiac arrest. Bridgeport has been designated Belmont County’s first Heart Safe school district. Front row, from left, are gym teacher Doug Tush, licensed practical nurse Susan Ault, registered nurse Dana Kreiter, educational management information system coordinator Andrea Criswell, kindergarten teacher Morgan Castilow, and third grade teacher Morgan Brunner. Back row from left are intervention specialist Todd Poe, English teacher Lynette Ehrmantraut, Gifted Intervention Specialist Arleen Keller, Special Education Director Beverly Prati, Middle School Principal Anne Haverty Lawson, second grade teacher Heather Goff, speech pathologist Tracy Velickoff, second grade teacher Rachelle Brinker, and Curriculum Director Leslie Kosanovic.

BRIDGEPORT — Every second counts when rendering aid during a sudden cardiac arrest, and the staff of Bridgeport Exempted Village School District put their training to the test with the first drill of the district’s cardiac response plan.

On Monday, the district simulated emergency scenarios where they would take action until EMTs could arrive. Staff members hurried to render aid to a CPR dummy and set up one of the district’s automated external defibrillators designed to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm.

Following the drill, Project ADAM out of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus designated Bridgeport a Heart Safe school district — the first in Belmont County.

Marc Dutro, coordinator with Project ADAM, observed. Project ADAM works with schools to prepare emergency responses to sudden cardiac arrest. He said the goal is for responders to be ready to deliver aid in less than three minutes and the Bridgeport personnel were ready in two minutes, 20 seconds.

“They did a wonderful job. I’m really impressed with their level of preparedness,” he said. “If a cardiac arrest happens, the best chance for that victim to survive is people to jump in immediately and start helping. We cannot depend on EMS to get in there to save the day, because we have five minutes once someone goes into cardiac arrest to make a difference.”

He added that since Gov. Mike DeWine signed Ohio House Bill 47 into law this summer, schools are required to meet certain safety standards regarding AED preparedness and training. Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Project ADAM are part of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition that helped legislators draft the current law, and the program meets and exceeds state requirements.

“We’re currently working with several other districts in Belmont County and surrounding areas to become Heart Safe designated as well. All of Project ADAM Ohio’s services are completely free, and we’d love to work with any other schools and districts that are interested,” Dutro said.

Interested schools can contact Project ADAM at nationwidechildrens.org/project-adam or by email at projectadam@nationwidechildrens.org.

Dana Kreiter, registered nurse with Bridgeport schools, said drills will be conducted on a quarterly basis. In the future, the district will add new variables, such as obstacles or the need to move the dummy. A drill could also take place with more students or in different areas of the school like the playground or gym.

Kreiter said the district has made a formal plan for coordinated, efficient response in the event of sudden cardiac arrest.

“We have done a lot of training, we’ve done meetings. We have a good-sized team of 18 staff members and administration that have volunteered to be a part of this,” she said.

“This is really important,” she said. “At any given time during our day, we have up to 1,000 people here, students and staff and everything, so we want to make sure we can respond accordingly if we do have an event where seconds matter.”

The district has six AED machines in the high, middle and elementary school areas, the softball field, administration building and football field.

Afterward, Kreiter was happy with the results.

“Our staff responded really quick. In a fast manner they were on-scene, on-site, ready to start care that they needed to do. That’s why we practice, so we can improve on our response time,” she said.

“I do appreciate significantly the support that I’ve had from our administration team here. They’ve allowed me to organize this, get the plan in place, do meetings,” she said. “It’s really nice to have the support of them so that we can just make sure we are as safe as we can be.”

Gifted intervention specialist Arleen Keller was one of the staff members who delivered compressions to the dummy.

“It’s great to learn that. You never know when you’re going to use it, either at work or outside of work. It’s great experience to have. You kind of just tune everything out and think of what you’re doing right at the moment,” she said. “We’re very fortunate to work in the Bridgeport school district because they go out of their way for programs like this. We have so many extra programs for the kids’ sake and to help the kids learn.”

Eighth grade intervention specialist Todd Poe also provided aid. He has gained some valuable familiarity with the AED.

“I was a little nervous at first,” he said, adding they quickly fell into step with their training. He emphasized the importance of learning what to do in an emergency and having the necessary equipment ready. “You never know whose life’s going to be on the line, and if it’s you, you hope there are people trained and can help.

“Hopefully it never happens, but if it does happen, I feel confident that we can help whoever needs help.”

English teacher Lynette Ehrmantraut assisted as well. Her father worked as an EMT and fire inspector, and she learned that quick action and training are vital during an emergency.

“It’s very crucial being the first responder. You’re the first one to assess a situation, and we even had some students volunteer to be in the room. Getting that experience was very useful and very helpful, but there’s a lot to keep in mind. Keeping your cool as much as possible is essential.”

Bridgeport High School Principal Jack Fisher commended the initiative.

“I think it’s awesome that Dana Kreiter has led this initiative for Bridgeport schools and also that we’ve had so many staff members come out to volunteer to be a part of this. Obviously, preparing for a crisis like this, it’s something you never want to have to experience. But we take these steps to make sure that we are prepared if a cardiac arrest does happen, and based on the feedback, the team did very well today during our drill.”

Bridgeport Middle School Principal Anne Haverty Lawson agreed.

“This is an amazing accomplishment for Bridgeport School. Ensuring that staff members are trained in CPR is a crucial step in keeping students, staff and visitors safe, and becoming the first Heart Safe School in Belmont County is a huge achievement. A big shout out to Dana Kreiter for her dedication and hard work in organizing this important training.”