Become a Heart Safe school
In partnership with Project ADAM (Automated Defibrillators in Adams Memory), St. Louis Children’s Hospital can help your school become Heart Safe. This initiative aims to improve outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest by providing schools with automated external defibrillators (AEDs), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training, and guidance in creating Cardiac Emergency Response Plans (CERP). Launched in 2020, the program has distributed more than 60 AEDs to 40 St. Louis-area schools and helped 13 schools achieve the Heart Safe school designation.
A school attains the Project ADAM Heart Safe school designation when they have successfully implemented a sudden cardiac arrest program of awareness, training, and effective emergency response, in accordance with the Heart Safe school checklist.
Our Heart Safe leaders
Deepa Mokshagundam, MD, medical director
Grace Presley, BSN, RN, program coordinator
Contact us
For any questions, please email [email protected].
Register here
To begin your journey toward achieving a Heart Safe School Designation, please fill out this form.
About Project ADAM
Project ADAM began in 1999 after the death of Adam Lemel, a 17-year-old Wisconsin high school student who collapsed and died while playing basketball. Adam suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, in which early CPR and an AED could have saved his life. Project ADAM’s goal is to provide schools with the training and tools to be prepared should a cardiac emergency occur.
Heart terminology
- Sudden cardiac arrest: The heart unexpectedly stops beating. This can happen to children and adults.
- CPR: An emergency lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating. Immediate CPR can double or triple chances of survival after cardiac arrest.
- AED: An easy-to-use medical device that can deliver an electrical shock. If used quickly, an AED can increase the chance of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest.
Pam and Ron Rubin
St. Louis Children’s Hospital is grateful to Pam and Ron Rubin for their visionary support of the Heart Safe Schools Program.
Ron, a southern Illinois native who calls St. Louis home, is very passionate about saving lives. Having suffered a cardiac emergency while training for a marathon, Ron was fortunate enough to have been successfully resuscitated thanks to an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). Seeing the impact of these devices on his own life, Ron made it his mission to support cardiac health in communities where he and Pam live.
Ron is the owner of The Republic of Tea and River Road Family Vineyards and Winery. In 2017, he started the Trained for “Saving Lives” program, which has provided AEDs and cardiac emergency training to 450 wineries in the United States.
When Pam and Ron learned about the Heart Safe Schools Program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, they knew this would be an excellent way to continue their impact and prevent as many sudden cardiac events as possible.
