Cardiac arrest survivor donates AED to Worthington Kilbourne High School
WORTHINGTON, Ohio (WCMH) – The American Heart Association and families across Ohio are pushing for Automated External Defibrillators and emergency action plans to be used in every school in the state.
For many the passion comes from a personal story, like for the Dickman family. They almost lost their son last summer to cardiac arrest, but now he’s using what happened to him to help save others.
Last summer quick action with the use of an AED saved the life of Worthington Kilbourne soccer player Canen Dickman, who suffered cardiac arrest during tryouts last summer. Now the coaches who used it are being honored and the school is getting another life-saving device to its building.
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Canen Dickman has been sharing his story ever since.
“It’s very special for me because this is where I had my cardiac arrest,” Canen Dickman said.
He shared his story with a company that makes AEDs. Through its Heroes for Life program, he is now donating another AED to Worthington Kilbourne High School.
“We wanted to put it in the backfields because the backfields were far away from any other AED,” Dickman said.
The soccer coaches were the ones who jumped into action with CPR and got the AED when Dickman collapsed.
“Things slowed down a lot. Seemed like everything took forever,” Assistant soccer coach Patrick Fagan said. “But we didn’t really think much about it. We just did what we were taught to do,”
This incident is pushing the coaching staff to be even more ready for a similar situation.
“Worthington Schools is going through the certification process right now. And it ensures that there’s an emergency plan of action, that staff has been trained, and that there’s AEDs within three minutes of any part of the facility,” Head soccer coach John Sprunger said.
The Dickman family is also working to expand access to AEDs. They recently shared Canen’s story at the state house.
“Canen is standing here beside me and we’re just eternally grateful for that and it’s just hard to put it into words, but we want to help save other lives the way Canen’s was saved,” Canen’s mother Pamela Dickman said.
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The American Heart Association says around 90 percent of Ohio schools have at least one AED but they are pushing for a bill to make AEDs and emergency action plans mandatory in schools.
“When you walk into a school building or any building you pretty much notice and you see those fire extinguishers everywhere. We would like AEDs to be as noticeable and as recognizable to individuals,” said Dustin Holfinger, the AHA Ohio State Government Relations Director.
The bill is in the Senate Health Committee and the AHA hopes it will pass before the summer recess.
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