Maintenance window scheduled to begin at February 14th 2200 est. until 0400 est. February 15th

(e.g. yourname@email.com)

Forgot Password?

    Defense Visual Information Distribution Service Logo

    NMCSD Pediatrician Teaches School to Save Lives

    SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES

    10.12.2018

    Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Zachary Kreitzer 

    Naval Medical Center San Diego

    SAN DIEGO (October 12, 2018) A pediatrician at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) helped students and staff of a local school make their school and community a safer place to be.
    Retired Navy Capt. Christine Johnson, a pediatrician at NMCSD worked for the last 2 years to with Muirlands Middle school, and honored the school’s hard work with a ceremony celebrating the school becoming the first in California to earn the Heart Safe accreditation.
    “This initiative really marries my personal ideals with my professional credentials and desires” said Johnson. “Over the past four years, I’ve trained over 3000 kids in the community at multiple different schools”
    The Heart Safe School accreditation program began in 2012 developed by Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome organization, focusing on teaching students CPR, how to use Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) and proper procedures on identifying and caring for victims of cardiac arrest.
    With more than 360,000 deaths in the US caused by sudden cardiac arrest (how often?), students and teachers knowing these techniques may contribute to saving someone’s life. Additionally those trained also are more likely to respond in times of crisis.
    “Although rare, sudden cardiac death in children and teenagers is an extremely tragic and devastating reality,” said Cdr. Luke Zabrocki, director of NMCSD Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. “For this school to obtain the accreditation demonstrates they have committed to doing everything they can to ensure the safety of the children at their school. It takes a lot of work and training and thus is an impressive commitment.”

    In the process of training the staff and students of Muirlands, Johnson used this as an opportunity to get residents at NMCSD some training and to interact with their neighbors and show them the face of Navy medicine.
    “For the training evolutions, we bring residents out to the school and they spend the day,” said Johnson. “We run them through how to recognize when someone needs CPR, how to perform CPR and how to effectively use the AED.”
    Ensuring the students and staff have this potentially lifesaving knowledge is important and personal to Ms. Johnson, after she nearly lost a family member to a heart attack.
    “Five years ago my very physically fit husband suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during a high intensity workout,” she said “I was there and quickly recognized that he wasn’t responsive and I started CPR. Another woman at the gym and I performed CPR for 12 minutes until emergency services arrived.”
    Her husband made a full recovery, and the scare sparked her passion to inform as many teachers and students as possible to become the next life saver, and she encourages physicians of NMCSD to get involved as well.
    “I would encourage to every physician that works here that this is something they can do out in the community,” she adds. “They can give back whether they have their own kids, know of a local school or work with sports teams so they can raise awareness and show what NMCSD can do.”
    For more information on Naval Medical Center San Diego, visit, www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcsd/Pages/default.aspx, www.facebook.com/nmcsd or www.twitter.com/NMC_SD.

    LEAVE A COMMENT

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 10.12.2018
    Date Posted: 10.12.2018 18:17
    Story ID: 296252
    Location: SAN DIEGO, CA, US

    Web Views: 121
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN