Lessons Learned from the First 4 years of Project ADAM’s Heart Safe School (HSS) Program in Wisconsin
Presented By:
Anoop K. Singh, MB BCh, CEPS-PC; Alli Thompson, MBA; Tracie Haugen, BSN, RN
Children's Wisconsin
ajthompson@chw.orgOverview:
Background: Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a major problem with 350,000 cases/year in the US. Every day 20% of the US population is in a school. As such Project ADAM (PA) initiated a formal Heart Safe School (HSS) program in Wisconsin. This paper describes the results of HSS over the initial 4-year period.
Methods: PA’s HSS initiative launched in 2016 with data collected in Salesforce. The HSS checklist was collected both at the time of an individual school’s HSS application and then again at completion of the 14 elements. PA contacted schools to assist them in achieving completion. Schools that achieved HSS Designation (ie- completion of the 14-point checklist) during the 4-year study period were then electronically surveyed regarding the HSS process.
Results: From 2017-2020 436 schools applied for HSS Designation. There were 177 schools that had a comprehensive HSS program already in place and they were immediately awarded HSS Designation. These 177 schools were excluded from this study and the remaining 259 schools were analyzed for their journey through the HSS process. There was a median of 6 HSS checklist elements completed at the time of initial application with “AED Accessibility” (90%), “AED Signage” (89%), and “AED Checked Monthly” (87%) being the most common. The commonest HSS deficiencies at entry into the HSS program were “Annual Staff Training” (12%), “Sharing School Plan” (13%), and “Annual Cardiac Drill” (18%).
Over the 4-year study period 139 schools (54%) achieved HSS Designation. The median time from entry to completion was 335 days. Fifteen districts, representing XX% of schools, completed the survey with the majority of respondents (73%) being school nurses. The most challenging aspect of achieving HSS Designation was “Allocating staff time for training” as answered by 67% of districts. The most useful PA resources for the schools were customizable templates and the HSS checklist.
Discussion: Data shows that a SCA occurs in 1/72 schools annually making PA HSS a priority. In Wisconsin many schools have an AED in place but not the other key elements to be fully prepared for SCA. This study showed that nearly a year is required to achieve HSS Designation. Schools require internal support from district administration to provide time for training their staff. Schools benefit from external support, via PA, to guide the process with templates and the HSS checklist.
Methods: PA’s HSS initiative launched in 2016 with data collected in Salesforce. The HSS checklist was collected both at the time of an individual school’s HSS application and then again at completion of the 14 elements. PA contacted schools to assist them in achieving completion. Schools that achieved HSS Designation (ie- completion of the 14-point checklist) during the 4-year study period were then electronically surveyed regarding the HSS process.
Results: From 2017-2020 436 schools applied for HSS Designation. There were 177 schools that had a comprehensive HSS program already in place and they were immediately awarded HSS Designation. These 177 schools were excluded from this study and the remaining 259 schools were analyzed for their journey through the HSS process. There was a median of 6 HSS checklist elements completed at the time of initial application with “AED Accessibility” (90%), “AED Signage” (89%), and “AED Checked Monthly” (87%) being the most common. The commonest HSS deficiencies at entry into the HSS program were “Annual Staff Training” (12%), “Sharing School Plan” (13%), and “Annual Cardiac Drill” (18%).
Over the 4-year study period 139 schools (54%) achieved HSS Designation. The median time from entry to completion was 335 days. Fifteen districts, representing XX% of schools, completed the survey with the majority of respondents (73%) being school nurses. The most challenging aspect of achieving HSS Designation was “Allocating staff time for training” as answered by 67% of districts. The most useful PA resources for the schools were customizable templates and the HSS checklist.
Discussion: Data shows that a SCA occurs in 1/72 schools annually making PA HSS a priority. In Wisconsin many schools have an AED in place but not the other key elements to be fully prepared for SCA. This study showed that nearly a year is required to achieve HSS Designation. Schools require internal support from district administration to provide time for training their staff. Schools benefit from external support, via PA, to guide the process with templates and the HSS checklist.
