BEDFORD CO., Va. – On Dec. 4, 2024, Jefferson Forest became the first school in Bedford County to earn the designation of a heart-safe school through Project ADAM and the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU.
According to BCPS, there are only 30 K-12 schools in Virginia that have earned the heart-safe designation.
Project ADAM, which stands for Automated Defibrillation in Adam’s Memory, was created in memory of Wisconsin teen Adam Lemel, who suffered from sudden cardiac arrest while playing basketball for his high school team in 1999. A bystander administered CPR and the ambulance arrived within 8 minutes, but Adam needed defibrillation within 2-3 minutes to be given the best chance of survival, unfortunately, the staff did not have the tools or skills needed to save Adam’s life…