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Negaunee schools MI HEARTSafe

Michigan awards 125 schools with special designation

Negaunee Middle School seventh-grader Heidi Helppi works out on a treadmill in the fitness room at the school. That room is directly across from AED equipment that would help someone experiencing a cardiac event. The three Negaunee schools were awarded the MI HEARTSafe School designation from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and other organizations. (Journal photo by Renee Prusi)

NEGAUNEE — As the district’s health coordinator, Ashley Speaker wanted to make sure the Negaunee Public Schools are prepared to deal with a cardiac emergency, should it arise.

“There have been tragedies we’ve heard of where young athletes suddenly go into a cardiac emergency but no one is prepared to deal with it,” Speaker said. “When I started, I did some research and found it was something we as a district could improve on. I felt we owed it to the community to make sure they’d have peace of mind knowing we’d be prepared to handle an emergency like that, which happens to healthy kids, too.

“We don’t want a tragedy. We want to be a hero school district, one that would recognize a cardiac emergency, have the right equipment and have a trained staff because this is a preventable tragedy and we want to be prepared,” she said.

Speaker’s efforts have been acknowledged as the three schools in the Negaunee district — Negaunee High, Negaunee Middle and Lakeview Elementary — were awarded the MI HEARTSafe School designation.

The designation was awarded to 125 schools in Michigan by The Michigan Departments of Health and Human Services and Education; the American Heart Association; Michigan High School Athletic Association; and Michigan Alliance for Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death of the Young. The three Negaunee schools were the only Marquette County schools on the list.

Negaunee Middle School eighth-grader Derek Giese picks up a free weight while Alexis Carrothers, also in eighth grade, gets started on a bike in the fitness room at the school. That room is directly across from AED equipment that would help someone experiencing a cardiac event. The three Negaunee schools were awarded the MI HEARTSafe School designation from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and other organizations. (Journal photo by Renee Prusi)

The designation recognizes schools that are prepared to respond to cardiac emergencies.

“Sudden cardiac death of a young person is tragic and some of these events can be prevented with fast, appropriate medical response within three to five minutes” said Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive of MDHHS, said in a press release. “It is always wonderful to see communities come together to help prepare schools to respond to these medical emergencies.”

Speaker said each Negaunee school has its own plan for dealing with a potential cardiac emergency.

“There are three separate plans,” she said. “The plans involve appropriate equipment and signage directing people to that equipment. Each school has a cardiac emergency response plan which we’ve shared with the fire department and police department.”

In order for a school to receive a MI HEARTSafe School designation, it must perform at least one cardiac emergency response drill per year, the press release said. This school year, the weeks of Nov. 6-10 and Feb.5-9 as CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator) drill weeks to remind schools about the importance of practicing for this type of emergency.’

Negaunee Middle School students Derek Giese, front, and back, from the left, Alexis Carrothers, Krista Carello and Heidi Helppi, pose in front of the AED equipment at the school that would help someone experiencing a cardiac event. The three Negaunee schools were awarded the MI HEARTSafe School designation from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and other organizations. (Journal photo by Renee Prusi)

“We did the drill last year and our schools had a little friendly competition to see who was best and quickest to ‘save a life’ in the drill,” Speaker said.

According to the release, another requirement for the MI HEARTSafe award is current CPR/AED certification of at least 10 percent of staff, and 50 percent of coaches including 100 percent of head varsity coaches and 100 percent of physical education staff.

Each of the Negaunee schools has a team — with Speaker serving on all three — trained to respond should a cardiac emergency arise.

At Negaunee High School, that team is Mark Marana, Andrew Burnette, Bill Ellerbruch, Kevin Jacobson and Jonica McCarthy. At the middle school, the team members are Mike McCollum, Kyle Saari, Mark Churchill, Derek Cardinal, Wendy Beacco and Krista Squires. Lakeview Elementary’s team includes Chad Kemp, Cody Scanlon, Beth Prusi, Chelsea Norton, Lisa Bigalk, Julie Peterson and Heather Sandstrom.

The release from the MDHHS states that since the launch of the MI HEARTSafe program in 2014, at least three people suffering sudden cardiac arrest are known to have been successfully resuscitated at schools that were preparing for or had recently submitted a MI HEARTSafe application.

This is the fourth year of the MI HEARTSafe Schools program in Michigan. The designation lasts for three years, and this year, 22 schools received their second MI HEARTSafe award.

In the first three years of the initiative, 266 schools were designated as MI HEARTSafe Schools.

Public Act 12 of 2014 requires all schools (grades kindergarten to 12) to have a cardiac emergency response plan in place, and Public Act 388 of 2016 requires CPR and AED instruction for pupils enrolled in grades 7 through 12, according to the release.

The MI HEARTSafe School designation recognizes the 369 school buildings that have now taken steps above and beyond to prepare to respond in the event of a cardiac emergency.

For the complete list of designated schools, visit https://migrc.org/ Library/HeartSafeSpotlight.html.

For more information about the MI HEARTSafe Schools program, visit www.migrc.org/miheartsafe or email MDHHS-MI-HEARTSafe@michigan.gov.

Renee Prusi can be contacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 240. Her email address is rprusi@miningjournal.net.

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