South Ripley educators prepare for sudden cardiac emergencies

Third school in the state to receive Project ADAM certification

(VERSAILLES, Ind.) – South Ripley educators are continuing to prepare for a worst case medical scenario inside school. 

Faculty members from each building participated in drills to become certified Project ADAM School on Friday morning. 

Project ADAM helps schools establish an emergency plan in the case of a sudden cardiac situation. 

The training is part of the Project ADAM Heart Safe program, which was created after 17-year-old Adam Lemel collapsed and died while playing basketball at a Wisconsin high school.

This initiative is extremely personal for South Ripley High School principal Derik Hutton. 

Hutton has a son at the elementary school that has experienced four open heart surgeries in his young life. 

“This Project ADAM is something that caught my eye, because you truly never know when there might be a life-and-death situation inside school at any moment,” Hutton told The 812. 

South Ripley has a plan and the right people in place at each of their school buildings. 

“We have emergency teams, made up of administrators, nurses, teachers, a school resource officer, and whenever there is a situation, we have an alert system where that team can respond in moments,” Hutton said. 

There is a network of faculty members involved, so in case a certain teacher is absent, there is someone qualified and trained to fill their role that day. 

Friday’s drill was led by Dr. Adam Kean from Riley Children’s Hospital and faculty members performed CPR and used an AED machine on test dummies. 

Hutton says he is proud of staff members from across the corporation for stepping up and being proactive. 

He also credits school nurses Bridgette Horan and Mandy Rohrig for their assistance in making the school corporation Project Adam certified. 

South Ripley is just the third district in the state to receive the certification.