A Back-to-School Guide to AEDs, CPR Training, and Emergency Preparedness
The floors are polished. Classrooms are being organized. Teachers are preparing lesson plans. Coaches are getting their teams ready. New students are learning their schedules, and parents are filling out what seems like an endless collection of back-to-school forms.
There is a lot that goes into getting a school ready for a new year.
But there is one question that may not be on the traditional back-to-school checklist:
Is your school Rescue Ready?
If a student, teacher, coach, parent, visitor, or spectator suddenly collapsed from cardiac arrest, would the people around them know what to do?
Would someone immediately call 911?
Would someone begin CPR?
Would another person know exactly where to find the nearest Automated External Defibrillator (AED)?
And perhaps most importantly, would that AED be accessible, properly maintained, and ready to use?
These are not questions that should be answered for the first time during an emergency.
Back-to-school season is an ideal opportunity for schools to take a fresh look at their cardiac emergency preparedness. That means looking beyond simply whether an AED is hanging somewhere on the wall. True preparedness involves the equipment, the people who may need to use it, and the program that helps ensure everything is ready when seconds count.
Having an AED Is a Great Start. But It Is Only a Start.
Many schools already have one or more AEDs on campus. That is important.
But purchasing an AED and installing it in a cabinet does not automatically create a complete AED program.
Think about everything that can change during a school year.
Staff members leave, and new employees arrive. Coaches change. Buildings are renovated. Athletic programs move to different fields or facilities. After-school programs are added. AED batteries and electrode pads eventually need replacement. Training certifications expire.
Even the best emergency plan can become outdated if no one reviews it.
That is why school AED preparedness should be viewed as an ongoing program rather than a one-time equipment purchase.
At the beginning of the school year, administrators should know the answers to several basic questions:
Where are our AEDs?
Are they all operational?
When were they last checked?
When do the pads and batteries need to be replaced?
Who is trained in CPR and AED use?
Do new employees need training?
Do our coaches know where the closest AED is during practices and games?
What happens if a cardiac emergency occurs after normal school hours?
Who is responsible for maintaining the program?
If answering some of those questions takes a little too long, it may be time to review your school’s AED program.
Rescue One Training for Life offers AED Program Management Services designed to help organizations manage AED readiness, including AED tracking, automatic notifications for expired supplies and monthly checks, recordkeeping, medical direction and other program support.
Start the School Year With an AED Check
AEDs are designed to be ready when they are needed, but they still require monitoring and maintenance.
Electrode pads have expiration dates. Batteries have a limited service life. AEDs perform self-checks, but someone still needs to make sure the device is indicating that it is ready for use.
The beginning of the school year is a perfect time to physically inspect every AED on campus.
Do not just check the AED near the front office.
Check the devices in athletic areas, gymnasiums, cafeterias, auditoriums, administrative buildings, field houses and other locations throughout the campus.
Schools should confirm that each AED is where it is supposed to be, easily identifiable and accessible to the people who may need it.
This is also a good opportunity to ask a very practical question:
Could someone unfamiliar with the building quickly find the AED?
An AED that is hidden behind a locked office door or located somewhere only a few staff members know about may be difficult to retrieve quickly during an emergency.
Visibility and accessibility matter.
Schools that need additional devices, replacement equipment, accessories, cabinets or help determining which AED is appropriate for their needs can explore Rescue One’s AED sales and equipment options.
CPR Training Turns Equipment Into Action
An AED is a powerful lifesaving tool, but preparedness also requires people who are willing and able to respond.
That is where CPR and AED training becomes so important.
Imagine a student collapsing in a hallway between classes.
Or a teacher experiencing cardiac arrest in a classroom.
Maybe it happens to a parent sitting in the bleachers during a basketball game.
The first people on the scene probably will not be paramedics. They may be teachers, coaches, administrators, students, security personnel, parents, or other bystanders.
Their actions during those first critical moments can matter tremendously.
CPR training helps people recognize an emergency, respond appropriately, begin chest compressions, and use an AED as part of the response.
Rescue One’s CPR and AED Training teaches participants CPR techniques for adults, children, and infants, as well as how an AED fits into the CPR sequence. Successful participants receive a certification card valid for two years.
For schools, the beginning of a new year is a natural time to review who is currently trained and whose certification may be approaching expiration.
Who at Your School Should Be Prepared?
When people think about CPR training in a school, they may immediately think of the school nurse.
Of course, school nurses play an essential role in student health and emergency preparedness.
But a cardiac emergency may happen hundreds of feet away from the nurse’s office.
It might happen on a soccer field.
In the cafeteria.
During an evening concert.
At a PTA event.
In a parking lot.
During basketball practice.
Or in a classroom on the other side of the building.
That is why preparedness should extend throughout the school community.
Teachers, administrators, coaches, athletic directors, security personnel, support staff and others can all benefit from CPR and AED training.
Schools can also consider how students fit into the preparedness picture. Maryland has incorporated hands-on CPR and AED instruction into high school health education, helping introduce lifesaving skills to another generation of potential responders.
Parents and volunteers should not be overlooked either.
Think about how many school activities take place outside traditional classroom hours. Booster clubs, PTA or PTO events, sports tournaments, dances, performances, fundraisers, field trips and community programs can bring hundreds of additional people onto school property.
A Rescue Ready school is not dependent on one person knowing what to do.
It creates a wider culture of preparedness.
Coaches and Athletic Programs Deserve Special Attention
School athletics create a unique challenge for emergency preparedness.
During the regular school day, students and staff may be concentrated inside the main building. At 4:30 in the afternoon, however, people can be scattered across an entire campus.
The football team may be on one field.
Soccer may be somewhere else.
Cross-country runners may be away from the main athletic complex.
Volleyball may be inside the gym.
Cheerleaders may be practicing in another part of the building.
Meanwhile, the school’s main office may already be closed.
This is why every athletic program should know where its closest AED is and how it would be retrieved during an emergency.
Ask your coaches a simple question:
If an athlete collapsed right now, where would you get an AED?
The answer should be immediate.
Schools should also consider practices, games, tournaments, away events, summer conditioning, weekend activities and other times when the normal school-day emergency structure may not be available.
Rescue One has previously addressed Maryland requirements involving emergency action planning and AED use in schools. Schools and athletic departments can learn more in Maryland Law Requires Emergency Action Plans for AED Usage.
Your AED Program Needs Someone Looking After It
One of the easiest mistakes an organization can make is assuming someone else is taking care of the AED.
The principal assumes facilities is checking it.
Facilities assumes the nurse is checking it.
The nurse thinks someone in administration is handling replacement supplies.
Everyone cares about the AED, but no one has clear responsibility for the entire program.
That is where AED program management becomes valuable.
An AED program can involve more than the physical device. Depending on the organization and location, there may be tracking, documentation, inspections, medical direction, registration requirements, emergency response planning, supply replacement and other responsibilities.
Rescue One’s AED Program Management options can help organizations track important information about their AEDs, including locations, serial numbers and expiration dates. Available services also include automatic notifications for monthly AED checks and expiring supplies, technical support, medical direction and state registration, with additional services available depending on the program selected.
For a school with multiple AEDs across multiple buildings or athletic facilities, having an organized system can make managing the program considerably easier.
It also helps answer one of the most important questions:
Are our AEDs actually ready today?
Don’t Forget About AED Pads, Batteries, and Supplies
AEDs spend most of their lives waiting.
Hopefully, your school’s AED will never need to be used.
But waiting does not mean maintenance can be ignored.
AED electrode pads and batteries do not last forever. Supplies need to be monitored and replaced as necessary. AEDs should be checked regularly for readiness.
Imagine reaching an AED during an emergency only to discover that the pads have expired or there is another problem with the device.
That is exactly the type of situation an ongoing management and inspection process is intended to help prevent.
Rescue One offers AEDs and AED accessories, along with program management services that can provide notifications when AED supplies are approaching expiration.
Back-to-school season is an excellent reminder to review these items instead of discovering a problem months later.
Build a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan
Equipment and training are two pieces of the puzzle.
Planning is another.
During a cardiac emergency, there is no time for a committee meeting to decide who should do what.
People need to act.
A school’s cardiac emergency response plan should establish how the school will respond when someone experiences a suspected cardiac arrest.
The details will vary based on the school and facility, but the plan should make important responsibilities clear.
Who calls 911?
Who begins CPR?
Who retrieves the AED?
Who helps direct emergency medical services to the correct location?
What happens if the emergency occurs on an athletic field?
How does the response change after normal school hours?
How are staff members made aware of the plan?
Schools should consider these scenarios before they happen.
A written plan sitting in a binder is helpful, but a plan that people understand and have practiced is far more valuable.
Practice the Response, Not Just the Plan
Schools conduct fire drills for a reason.
Knowing where the exit is does not necessarily mean hundreds of students and staff will respond efficiently without practicing the process.
Cardiac emergency preparedness deserves similar thinking.
Consider walking through a realistic scenario.
A student collapses in the gym.
Someone recognizes that something is seriously wrong.
What happens next?
How quickly is 911 called?
How quickly does CPR begin?
Where is the nearest AED?
How long does it take someone to retrieve it?
Can emergency responders easily access the gym?
A simple exercise can reveal problems that are difficult to spot on paper.
Maybe an AED cabinet is blocked.
Maybe staff members did not know an AED had been moved.
Maybe coaches assumed an AED was available at an athletic field when the nearest device is actually inside a locked building.
Discovering those issues during a drill allows the school to fix them before an actual emergency.
What About New Staff and New Coaches?
Every new school year brings changes.
That means last year’s preparedness plan may not be enough for this year’s school.
A CPR-trained coach may have left.
A new teacher may never have taken a CPR class.
A new athletic director may not know where every AED is located.
A new security team may need to understand the school’s emergency response procedures.
That makes back-to-school orientation an ideal opportunity to incorporate emergency preparedness.
Schools can review AED locations with staff, identify people who need CPR/AED certification or recertification, explain the cardiac emergency response plan, and establish who will oversee AED checks and maintenance.
Rescue One provides both individual and group CPR/AED training, making it possible for schools and organizations to address training needs based on the size and makeup of their staff.
Make Students Part of a Rescue Ready Culture
There is another group worth including in the conversation: students.
Teaching young people CPR and AED awareness does more than satisfy an educational requirement. It introduces the idea that ordinary people can take meaningful action during an emergency.
Today’s student may be tomorrow’s teacher, coach, parent, lifeguard, healthcare provider, coworker or bystander who happens to be nearby when someone experiences cardiac arrest.
Even within the school environment, students may be present when an emergency occurs.
Building awareness throughout the student body can help make lifesaving preparedness part of the school’s culture.
Instead of AEDs being mysterious boxes hanging on the wall, students can understand what they are, why they are there and why calling 911 and getting help immediately is so important.
That is a valuable lesson that extends well beyond the classroom.
The Rescue Ready Back-to-School Check
Before the new school year gets into full swing, take a few minutes to evaluate your school’s readiness.
Can you confidently say:
- We know where every AED is located.
- Our AEDs have been checked and are ready for use.
- AED pads, batteries, and supplies are being monitored.
- Staff members know where to find the nearest AED.
- Our coaches know how to access an AED during practices and games.
- We know which staff members are currently CPR/AED certified.
- We have identified employees or coaches who need training or recertification.
- We have a cardiac emergency response plan.
- Staff members understand their roles during an emergency.
- Our AED program has someone responsible for ongoing management.
- Our plan accounts for after-school activities, athletic events, and visitors.
- We periodically practice how we would respond.
If you answered “yes” to all of them, your school has taken important steps toward being Rescue Ready.
If a few answers are “no” or “I’m not sure,” that is valuable information too.
Now you know where to start.
Make This the Year Your School Gets Rescue Ready
Back-to-school preparation usually focuses on what students need to learn during the year.
Cardiac emergency preparedness asks a different question:
Are we ready to act when someone’s life may depend on what happens in the next few minutes?
Being Rescue Ready is not about creating fear. It is about creating confidence.
It means having AEDs in appropriate and accessible locations.
It means making sure those AEDs are maintained and ready.
It means having teachers, coaches, administrators and other members of the school community who know CPR and understand how to use an AED.
And it means having an organized AED program and emergency response plan so people do not have to figure everything out while an emergency is happening.
The start of a new school year is the perfect time to look at all of those pieces together.
Is Your School Rescue Ready?
Rescue One Training for Life, Inc. can help schools evaluate and strengthen their cardiac emergency preparedness with lifesaving training, AED equipment, and ongoing AED program management.
Whether your school needs additional AEDs, CPR/AED training for staff and coaches, replacement AED supplies, or help managing an existing AED program, Rescue One can help you determine the next steps.
Explore Rescue One’s school preparedness resources:
CPR & AED Training:
https://rescue-one.com/training/cpr-aed-training/
AED Sales & Equipment:
https://rescue-one.com/aeds/
AED Program Management:
https://rescue-one.com/aed-program/
School AED Emergency Action Planning:
https://rescue-one.com/maryland-law-requires-emergency-action-plans-for-aed-usage/
Contact Rescue One:
https://rescue-one.com/contact-us/
