JAMESTOWN — The youth football league received a life-saving gift prior to the varsity football game Aug. 31.
The program received an automated external defibrillator machine — a critical piece of equipment needed in schools which checks the heart rhythm and can send an electric shock to the heart to try to restore a normal rhythm — from Premier Health. AEDs are used to treat sudden cardiac arrest.
A sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating, cutting off blood flow to the brain and other vital organs. Sudden cardiac arrest is fatal if not treated immediately, most often by a defibrillator. The AED will help the school district comply with Senate Bill 252 and Lindsay’s Law, named for national heart health advocate and former Miss Ohio Lindsay Davis, who suffers from a heart condition and has since dedicated her career to raising awareness of this potentially fatal condition.
“Sudden cardiac arrest is the number one killer of student athletes,” Davis said. “At any moment I could have died because coaches and teachers had no idea this was even a possibility for someone who looked as healthy as I did at that age.”
Lindsay’s Law, Ohio Revised Code 3313.5310, 3707.58 and 3707.59 went into effect in 2017.
In accordance with this law, the Ohio Department of Health, the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio High School Athletic Association, the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and other stakeholders jointly developed guidelines and other relevant materials to inform and educate students and youth athletes participating in or desiring to participate in an athletic activity, their parents, and their coaches about the nature and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest.
