Board approves district sudden cardiac emergency response plan; schools to run AED drills with county EMS

The Muskogee Public Schools Board of Education approved the district—s sudden cardiac emergency response plan after a presentation from district health staff on Tuesday.

Julia Price, identified as the district—s director of nurses, presented the plan and said it was prepared to meet accreditation requirements. "We want to make sure that we have teams in place that will recognize a cardiac event, whether it be staff or a student, and they know what to do," Price said. She said the plan names each school—s certified emergency response team, requires at least two members on each team to hold American Red Cross CPR, AED and first-aid certifications, and includes activation guidelines for the cardiac emergency response teams.

Price said the plan will be posted in a condensed form at each site and that the district will "be partnering with Muskogee County Emergency Medical Services, EMS, to help each school site run drills." She told the board that AEDs are positioned so most campus locations are within about three minutes of an automated external defibrillator.

Price also said the response plan had already been implemented at school sites in August and September but was being presented to the board to satisfy an accreditation requirement.

A board member moved to approve the plan; the motion received a second and passed by voice vote. No roll-call tally was recorded in the public transcript.

The plan obligates principals to include the cardiac drill as part of required security and safety drills and to ensure staff awareness of AED locations.