Whenever Christy Silva stands before an audience to tell the story of her son, Aidan, there is complete silence in the room. She has told her family's tragic story for six years. At this particular speaking engagement, she was able to talk about what happened without tears, although her heartache was felt by all. However, as she introduced herself to the gymnasium full of 11 and 12 year olds at the Marsh Creek Sixth Grade Center, she added one new detail to his story -- Aidan should have been one of their sixth-grade classmates.
Aidan, who would have turned 13 this year, died of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) when he was just 7 years old. Without warning, just days after he started first grade, his heart simply stopped. Emergency help could not get to him quickly enough to save him. His family was devastated.
"SCA happens to young people every day, and it happens without warning," Silva has since learned. When SCA occurs, the heart stops beating and the person stops breathing.
From his unexpected death, a mission was born. Christy, husband Steve, and a team of dedicated friends and supporters created Aidan's Heart Foundation and have made it their purpose to teach everyone -- adults and students -- how to save lives. Knowing how to perform Hands-Only CPR and how to operate an Automated External Defibrilator device (AED) are essential when someone has a Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
For the second year, Silva and her volunteer team of educators brought this life-saving demonstration to all 1,000+ sixth graders in the Downingtown Area School District. She was joined by nurses and educators from Chester County Hospital who worked with small groups of students. The first five minutes of SCA are the most critical they learned; this is when the Chain of Survival begins. The person in cardiac arrest needs the people around them - perhaps strangers - to react quickly and to know what to do.
Silva explains, "We think sixth graders are at a great age to train because they are open to trying something new and they want to be helpful."
Chester County Hospital nurse Amber Shealy said, "I am helping Aidan's Heart Foundation train the students because I think it can make such a difference in our community." Nurses take care of SCA patients after they arrive to the hospital, and so training people to know what to do, in the very first moments someone needs help, was a welcomed opportunity.
The sixth graders were taught specifically the signs of SCA and how to initiate the Chain of Survival. Working as a team and using CPR dummies, they learned how to perform Hands-Only CPR at a rate of 100 compressions per minute. They were reminded where the AEDs were located in their school, and trained on how to turn on the machines and follow the defibrillator's smart instructions.
Susan Pizzi, a community health educator for the hospital, also helped train the students during the day. Later that evening, she held a special program at the school for their parents. Pizzi organizes Chester County Hospital's ongoing series of Hands-Only CPR and AED classes for the community. It is a free training session offered at a variety of locations throughout the county.
The hospital's vision for wide-spread Hands-Only CPR education aligns with Aidan's Heart Foundation, and so Pizzi and all the nurses* were happy to offer their time and knowledge to assist Silva and her team with the training of the sixth-grade class.
"The steps are not hard, but they do take courage," said Silva. And, courageousness is a trait that Silva embodies as a mom, every time she shares Aidan's story.
*In addition to Susan Pizzi and Amber Shealy, Chester County Hospital nurses at the training included Mary Maurer, Terri Bugniazet, Kristin Taylor, Theresa Moore, Linda Shepherd and Jennifer Brenneman.
About Chester County Hospital
Chester County Hospital is an organization dedicated to the health and wellbeing of the people in Chester County and surrounding areas. Founded in 1892, the non-profit hospital has grown into a 243-bed acute care facility based in West Chester, plus it has a system of outpatient locations in Exton, West Goshen, New Garden, Jennersville, West Grove and Kennett Square. In 2013, Chester County Hospital became part of Penn Medicine that consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise. In addition to quality-driven inpatient medical/surgical services, Chester County Hospital also offers home health, hospice and skilled nursing care; occupational medicine; outpatient laboratory, radiology and physical therapy services; an ob/gyn clinic for the underserved; wound care; and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation.