The Nashville PAD C.A.R.E.S. (CPR/AED Readiness Education in Schools) Project

    Because schools in Middle Tennessee are places for the community to gather, and because the goal in schools is education and improvement for our future, schools are a natural place for a community Public Access Defibrillation Program (PAD) to begin. Sudden Cardiac Death can occur at any time and at any age. These events happen several times a year in our schools in adults. While rare, cardiac death in children and adolescents does occur. Seemingly healthy, physically fit children sometimes collapse without warning. In the past, a majority of people, both young and old, who suffered cardiac arrest died because an automated external defibrillator (AED) was not available quickly enough. Until recently, only emergency response teams, such as paramedics, carried defibrillators. Now they are available for use by the public, and have been shown to improve survival rates.
    The Nashville PAD C.A.R.E.S. Project helps schools start and sustain their own public access defibrillator (PAD) programs. Services include an assessment of the school's needs, training of intended users, assistance in locating funding for purchase of AED(s) and the implementation of a sustainable plan for the school.

The goal of the Nashville PAD C.A.R.E.S. Project is to:
• Prevent adults and children from dying from sudden cardiac death in and around schools.
• Increase awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in both adults and children.
• Help all schools throughout Nashville (and possibly Tennessee) implement and sustain a PAD program.
• Improve school sports physicals to identify more kids at risk.
• Help schools add CPR/AED training to their curriculums, so every student graduating from high school has this life-saving skill.

Although minimal, a school's commitment to the C.A.R.E.S. Project is important and includes that they:
• Use the funds received through the Nashville PAD Program and C.A.R.E.S. Project for a PAD  program.
• Refer to the Nashville PAD C.A.R.E.S. Project when promoting their PAD program.
• Report the progress of their program to the Nashville PAD C.A.R.E.S. Project administrator annually.
• Inform the Nashville PAD C.A.R.E.S. Project of any event in which the AED was used.