VCU news

By Joan Tupponce

What started as a plan to increase the number of automated external defibrillators on campus has broadened into a multidepartmental life safety initiative at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Travis Clark and Chad Hammack with VCU Safety and Risk Management initially were working on their proposal to raise the number of AEDs in VCU buildings by 50%, to a total of 130. “We found out that Emergency Management was starting a Stop the Bleed kit program that included training,” said Clark, occupational safety manager. “They reached out to us to co-locate kits into each of the AED stations across campus.”

The Stop the Bleed kits, with contents ranging from a tourniquet and clotting gauze to gloves and an instruction card, are “pretty compact,” said Matthew Majid, assistant director of the Division of Emergency Management in the VCU Police Department.

“If you look back at our hazard mitigation plan, one of the No. 1 hazards was an active threat, with active shooter incidents being seen across the country,” he said. “We first gave similar kits to our officers. We wanted to expand the reach. Other schools such as Virginia Tech are doing something similar.”

Rams in Recovery, a program that supports students who have faced substance use disorders, also reached out to VCU Police and to Safety and Risk Management to see if the medicine naloxone, which can treat opioid overdoses, could be made available at all AED locations.

“They were eager to partner on expanding our lifesaving options on campus,” said Tom Bannard, assistant director for substance use and recovery support in University Counseling Services, a unit in the Division of Student Affairs.

Since 2015, Rams in Recovery has been working with the Virginia Department of Health to bring naloxone to campus and train individuals to use and distribute it to those in need.

“We want these individuals to know that we care about them and their safety regardless of the choices they make,” Bannard said. “Additionally, we have many members of our community that have loved ones who are struggling with use, who want to be equipped with this lifesaving medication. This drug is extremely safe and saves lives.”  

Rams in Recovery conducts training in partnership with classes.

“We also take the free naloxone bike out on campus to train people,” said John D. Freyer, associate professor of cross-disciplinary media in VCU’s School of the Arts, who noted that more than 1,800 people received training across 61 sessions last year.

The goal is to “equip our community members to be active bystanders and be helpful should the need arise,” Freyer said. “It is an important part of creating a community of care.”  

To provide staff training for CPR, first aid and AED use, Safety and Risk Management partnered with Recreation and Well-Being to purchase free training vouchers for faculty and staff. RecWell lowered the cost of the vouchers for SRM and matched the 100 training slots purchased with an additional 50 slots.

The vouchers provide complimentary registration for one of RecWell’s adult and pediatric first aid/CPR/AED classes at the Cary Street Gym. Participants complete an online learning module and then join a hands-on training session to practice administering CPR, using an AED and providing first aid for basic injuries.

When SRM’s Hammack, an occupational safety officer, reached out to RecWell about AEDs, “it actually coincided with a cardiac arrest event that we had at the Cary Street Gym last November, during which multiple students provided CPR care for the patient until EMS arrived and took over,” said Mathew Scott, aquatics and safety coordinator for RecWell. “So given the immediacy of the issue in my own workplace and my background with safety training, I was eager to take part and work with Chad, Travis and the SRM team to help them push this initiative as far as we could.”

Based on the partnerships SRM has developed for the initiative, signs above all AED cabinets now designate the area as a “life safety site,” Hammack said. AED cabinets are available in many large, high-traffic VCU buildings. They are typically located in the first floor lobby and other high-visibility locations.  

For more details on the lifesaving devices as well as training opportunities, visit the SRM website.