AURORA, Colo. — A child lying unconscious in a school hallway prompted trained staff from Children’s Hospital Colorado’s School Health Program to act.

Kevin Ross, a nurse consultant for the program, and several of his colleagues provide CPR, first aid and training on how to use an automated external defibrillator, or AED. The team recently trained staff at a middle school in Brighton, and the training helped save a young girl’s life there.

“They provided the CPR, she got the two shocks in the building from the AED, EMS arrived, she was transferred initially to a nearby hospital, then airlifted to Children’s Colorado and eventually everything turned out very well,” Kevin says. “But ultimately, what I think is probably the best part of the story is that I was just talking to her two hours ago. She comes by and checks in when I'm in the building. We see so many cool things from the clinical side, but with this program, we actually get to reach beyond that.”

Since last year, the team has been training schools around the 27J School District, which includes Brighton, Commerce City, Henderson and Thornton. The effort began with a federal grant to train rural school nurses in Colorado and Wyoming, and, after the grant ended, the team continued the training because of its perceived benefits.

The training program is a partnership between school districts and Children’s Colorado as part of its Project ADAM initiative, which aims to make all schools in Colorado heart safe. Being a heart-safe school means the school has an AED and people trained to use it in case of a cardiac emergency.

“When something like this happens, it really strengthens our desire even more as a district and a partner with Children’s Hospital to want to run more drills,” Kevin says.

Kevin doesn’t wish a cardiac emergency on anyone. However, he notes it is a real possibility. The team’s goal is to be prepared and have the right training in place, across as many Colorado school districts as possible.

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