Fiesta Bowl Charities and BHHS Legacy Foundation Deliver AED Equipment to Arizona Schools
Helping fill a critical need on school campuses across Arizona, Fiesta Bowl Charities unveiled its latest community initiative by creating an Automated External Defibrillator assistance program presented by BHHS Legacy Foundation, which included certified training sessions and donated AED units for schools in Mesa, Avondale and Bullhead City.
More than 9,200 students and 700 teachers across 16 schools benefitted from the program’s first year.
“Fiesta Bowl Charities continually evaluates the need in Arizona communities and how best to address the gaps. Forming the AED assistance program with a like-minded partner in BHHS Legacy Foundation is extremely important because it has a life-saving reality,” said Kristina Chumpol, Fiesta Sports Foundation chief of staff and VP of community investment. “You never know when a cardiac arrest situation will arise, so preparing our schools with new equipment and giving school teachers and staff the knowledge of how to use it is making our schools safer.”
According to current regulations, AEDs are only required in state buildings and dental offices and there are no legislative requirements for CPR/AED training in Arizona. Given Arizona’s average Emergency Medical Services response time is nine minutes and survival rates increase by 70 percent when a defibrillator is used within the first three minutes of collapse, the need for AEDs in schools is critical. At schools that have staff/teachers who have been properly trained to use an AED, the survival rate for children experiencing sudden cardiac arrest jumps to more than 85 percent. Sudden cardiac arrest strikes 7,000 children and teens annually and is the cause of 13 percent of young athlete deaths.
“BHHS Legacy Foundation is proud to participate with Fiesta Bowl Charities in the funding and implementation of the much-needed AED assistance program for selected area public schools. Having school staff members trained in CPR, plus making AEDs available in the schools, and encouraging schools to develop emergency response plans will make the schools better prepared to respond to any future sudden cardiac event, which will assist in saving lives,” said Gerald Wissink, BHHS Legacy Foundation CEO.
Fremont Junior High School in Mesa, the Avondale Elementary District and five schools in the Tri-State region were selected for inclusion in the inaugural year of the program following surveys conducted by Fiesta Bowl Charities to identify needs in Arizona public and charter schools. More than 40 percent of schools surveyed reported that an AED was not on campus due to cost and another 34 percent responded that they did not have trained staff for AED use.
As a result, the AED assistance program consisted of two parts, starting with training teachers and staff in conjunction with the American Red Cross. A total of 101 teachers and staff from Fremont Junior High School, the 10 schools in the Avondale Elementary District and five Tri-State schools were trained in AED, CPR and first aid. Of the 101 staff, 48 were trained as certified instructors, giving them the tools to train more than 500 colleagues at their respective schools.
To cap things off, the Fiesta Sports Foundation and BHHS Legacy Foundation gifted 23 AED units across the 16 schools.
“Mohave Accelerated Schools appreciates our partnership with the American Red Cross, BHHS Legacy Foundation and Fiesta Bowl Charities,” said Jeremy Klingensmith, Mohave Accelerated Schools administrator and athletic director. “The addition of two new AED devices as well as the CPR/first aid training that was provided is invaluable. Our students and athletes are much safer. Our staff is much safer. Everyone in our community benefits from the knowledge, training and equipment provided to us and other local schools.”
For more behind this Frontdoor, visit fiestabowl.org and bhhslegacy.org
