Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s Project ADAM celebrates 100 lives saved
MILWAUKEE – Project ADAM announced today that 100 lives have been saved since the program was founded in 1999. Project ADAM is a Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin effort that helps schools throughout the nation prepare for and respond to cardiac emergencies.
The 100th save occurred at a Georgia K4-12 school. The student, a senior, unexpectedly collapsed during a volleyball game last October. After CPR efforts failed, a school official used one of the school’s six AEDs on the student. By the time the paramedics arrived, the student was sitting up and talking.
In addition to Wisconsin, Project ADAM has 11 state affiliates in Alabama, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. The 100th save occurred through Project S.A.V.E. at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the first Project ADAM affiliate.
Out of the 100 saves, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin have had the highest amount of saves, with 60 and 29, respectively.
The remaining saves are as follows:
- Two from Project ADAM Florida, Florida Hospital for Children
- Two from Youth Heart Watch, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Three from Project ADAM Texas, Cook Children’s Medical Center
- Two from Project ADAM Inland Northwest, Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital in Spokane, Washington
- One from Project ADAM Tennessee, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital
- One from Alabama LifeStart, Children’s Hospital of Alabama
“All data prove that effective bystander CPR and AED use saves lives. This is a life skill that all should master,” said Robert Campbell, the medical director of Project S.A.V.E. at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “You might save a life through your commitment to this skill. The life you save may be your family member.”
Project ADAM was created in honor of Adam Lemel, a 17-year-old Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, high school student who collapsed and died while playing basketball. The name of the program stands for Automated Defibrillators in Adam’s Memory.
“As Adam’s father, I know this effort is improving response time to cardiac events and improving the chance of survival,” said Adam’s father, Joe Lemel.
Each year, an estimated 9,500 children experience EMS-assessed, non-traumatic, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the U.S., according to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation. An estimated 7,000 fatalities occur in children each year.
“One of my favorite moments was when Joe and I attended the 10-year anniversary of heart safe schools in the Milwaukee Public Schools system,” said Dr. Anoop Singh, the medical director of Project ADAM Wisconsin at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. “I saw the sadness in Joe’s eyes as he recounted his son’s death. But, Joe put it so eloquently when he said this was his dream to share the stage with a survivor of Project ADAM. This has been Adam’s legacy: 100 lives saved and counting.”
In 2015, Project ADAM and its affiliates trained 12,100 staff members and students in CPR and AED usage, and they placed 92 AEDS in schools and communities.
Project ADAM is a program of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s Herma Heart Center. The largest pediatric cardiac center in the state, the Herma Heart Center is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 5 pediatric cardiology and heart surgery program in the nation.
To learn more about how to become an affiliate site or for free templates, plans, video and other resources Project ADAM provides for schools, please visit www.ProjectADAM.com.
About the Herma Heart Center at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
The Herma Heart Center is the largest pediatric cardiac center in Wisconsin and is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 5pediatric cardiology and heart surgery program in the nation. Children’s survival rates are among the country’s best and have earned the program a three-star rating (the highest possible) by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The program is among the highest volume congential heart surgery program in the country, performing more than 300 open-heart surgeries and more than 700 total heart procedures a year.
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is the region’s only independent health care system dedicated solely to the health and well-being of children. The hospital, with locations in Milwaukee and Neenah, Wisconsin, is recognized as one of the leading pediatric health care centers in the United States. It is ranked in nine specialty areas in U.S. News & World Report’s 2015-16 Best Children’s Hospitals report. Children’s provides primary care, specialty care, urgent care, emergency care, community health services, foster and adoption services, child and family counseling, child advocacy services and family resource centers. In 2014, Children’s invested more than $102 million in the community to improve the health status of children through medical care, advocacy, education and pediatric medical research. Children’s achieves its mission in part through donations from individuals, corporations and foundations and is proud to be a member of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. For more information, visit the website at chw.org.
