A program to prevent sudden cardiac deaths is saving lives in the diocese.

A teacher at St. Charles Preparatory School and a parishioner at Columbus Our Lady of Peace Church are alive today thanks to quick response and the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) during cardiac events.

The AEDs are part of the Project ADAM Heart Safe Schools initiative that began in the diocese in 2021 at Columbus St. Andrew School. In the past two years, 24 additional schools have received training and certification in the comprehensive program. Nine more are on track to be added by the end of the school year.

Project ADAM was created in 1999 in memory of Adam Lemel, whose parents collaborated with Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin to establish the program after the sudden death of their 17-year-old son in southeastern Wisconsin and other high school athletes across the country. The apparent cause was a condition known as ventricular fibrillation that occurs when the ventricles fail to pump enough blood into the body.

The primary purpose of Project ADAM is “to prevent sudden cardiac death in children and adolescents through education and implementation of life-saving programs,” said Michele Faehnle, the diocesan school nursing adviser and the school nurse at St. Andrew.

The process at each school begins with a site visit from a trained Project ADAM representative to assess a school’s needs. The evaluation includes how many AEDs are required based on accessibility and location in the buildings.

“Each school selects a site coordinator who manages the AED program, is responsible for scheduling CPR-AED training, creating a cardiac response team and a Sudden Cardiac Arrest Plan and practicing drills,” Faehnle said.  

Marc Dutro, the Project ADAM coordinator with Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, evaluates the schools and preforms a test drill before designating them as heart safe.

When a school receives its official designation as heart safe, a banner is presented to staff members.

The cardiac event that occurred at St. Charles on March 28 stands as a testament to the life-saving value of Project Adam.

That morning, about 20 minutes before the start of school, Jack Gibbons, a social teacher teacher, suddenly collapsed in a classroom with two students present. They immediately ran for help and found Rick Ey, vice principal for student services, and teacher Tony Wilson, who both happened to part of the schools’ emergency response team.

The boys then headed to the nurse’s office to summon Andrea Pitones. On their way, they met Thomas Giles, a college counselor and another member of the emergency response team. They grabbed an AED and headed for the classroom.

At that point, the teacher didn’t appear to be breathing and no pulse was detected. In the meantime, 911 had been called and cardio pulmonary resuscitation was underway.

When Pitones reached the classroom, the AED was used to provide an electric shock to the heart while chest compressions continued.

When school resource office Jeremy Grimes arrived, he said the machine indicated that another shock was not necessary but that compressions should continue.

Within seven to 10 minutes, Columbus Division of Fire paramedics were on the scene. They could faintly hear the teacher sporadically gasping for air and a pulse was detected. 

“They took over with their advanced medical tools and he was eventually transported to OSU (Ohio State University Medical Center) and immediately taken into intensive care,” Grimes said. “And by God’s grace, he is here to tell his story.”

Grimes also credited the students in the room for their quick actions and the teachers who directed the paramedics once they arrived and who kept the students away from the scene.

All diocesan school staff members receive CPR and first aid training. At St. Charles, there are 10 individuals who are part of an emergency response team that responds not only to medical situations but safety issues and other threats.     

“They bridge the gap between when a crisis happens and when help can arrive,” he said, “whether it’s a medical emergency or additional police are needed. If you don’t bridge that gap, the outcome is much different and we can say 100 percent that was proven on March 28.”

As the school nurse, Pitones was a “huge proponent of the program and we worked closely to get St. Charles certified,” Grimes said. “We do drills and we train and practice for this situation.

“Hopefully, you never have to use it, but on March 28 God had a different plan and luckily we were able to respond the way we had hoped and were trained. And being certified through Project ADAM has been proof that this does work.”

As a Bexley police officer, Grimes has been involved in plenty of traumatic situations and knows the outcome is not always successful as it was at St. Charles and across the city at Our Lady of Peace.

During a Saturday Vigil Mass earlier this year at Our Lady of Peace, a man collapsed in a pew after receiving communion and was resuscitated with the help of a medical student, nurses who were quick to respond and an AED that was brought in from the parish’s gathering space.

“When someone suffers cardiac arrest and an AED needs to be administered and shock and chest compressions need to take place, your success rate isn’t amazing, let’s just say,” Grimes said. “I think it’s probably going to be on the other side of the equation, but God works in amazing ways.

“And he puts us in position to really respond and do the things that we need to do, but at the end of the day, it’s nothing short of His work that makes it possible for this to happen.”

In addition to St. Charles and Our Lady of Peace, schools that have completed the Project ADAM designation include Cristo Rey Columbus, Columbus Bishop Hartley, Bishop Ready, St. Francis DeSales, St. Andrew, Immaculate Conception, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Agatha, All Saints Academy, Holy Spirit, St. Joseph Montessori and St. Mary German Village; Hilliard St. Brendan; Dublin St. Brigid of Kildare; Westerville St. Paul; Portsmouth Note Dame; Marion St. Mary; Reynoldsburg St. Pius X; Grove City Our Lady of Perpetual Help; Chillicothe Bishop Flaget and Worthington St. Michael.

Lancaster Fisher Catholic High School and Lancaster St. Bernadette and St. Mary schools have received training through the Fairfield Medical Center’s Community Heart Watch program.