Schools throughout Michigan have been awarded a state designation for cardiac emergency preparedness.
125 schools received the Heart Safe recognition this year. That brings the total in Michigan to nearly 370 schools, the most the state has seen since the program began.
Angela Minicuci is the spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health of Human Services, who awards the designation. She said all schools are required to take certain steps to respond to cardiac emergencies.
“But the MI HEARTSafe Schools designation takes it a step further. So in order to be a MI HEARTSafe School you have to have a written emergency response plan, you have to have a response team with a CPR AED certification for both school hours and after school activities.”
Minicuci said to be recognized, a percentage of school staff needs to be certified, AEDs must be accessible, and schools are required to perform a drill once a year.
She said since the program started four years ago, she’s aware of at least three people in MI HEART Safe schools who were successfully resuscitated after a cardiac emergency.