Wednesday, October 12, 2022 was a substantial day for Roanoke Rapids Graded School District. Members of the Project Adam NC team from Duke Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center visited the district to oversee drills performed by Cardiac Emergency Response Teams (CERT) at each of the district’s eight sites. These drills were the last requirement the district had to meet to become designated as a Heart Safe School District. The sudden cardiac arrest drills simulated a cardiac emergency and allowed each team to gain experience in responding to such an emergency.
Sara Council, Director of Student Services for RRGSD, has worked closely since March 2022 with Danielle Sturckey, a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Duke Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center and program coordinator for Project ADAM in North Carolina. This successful partnership led to RRGSD being the first school district in NC to be designated as Heart-Safe. Dr. Salim Idriss and Leslie Pace, RN, were on hand during the drills to provide feedback and present banners at all of the district sites. Mrs. Council stated, “We are proud to say that RRGSD is the first district in NC to be designated as Heart-Safe. The feedback received from highly-qualified doctors and nurses from Duke Medical Center was positive and reflective of the hard work that RRGSD has put forth in receiving this designation.” Dr. Idriss added that, “We are very happy and proud that RRGSD has met Project Adam criteria to be designated as a Heart-Safe District. It’s fantastic that all staff are CPR trained across the school district, which makes not only the schools safer, but also helps the community.”
