When Kara Baker’s father died after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest outside of an elementary school, she knew she had to carry his legacy forward.
The tragedy hit especially close to home since her father, Ed Walsh, had dedicated much of his life to placing automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, inside local schools.
As a cardiac nurse at AdventHealth Littleton, Baker knew that her father’s medical emergency could have had different outcomes if an AED had been available. She immediately adopted a mission to follow in his footsteps and make the devices accessible in outdoor spaces.
Baker celebrated the realization of her dream this month when she cut the ribbon for an outdoor AED at Euclid Middle School.
Euclid is one of nine locations throughout the Littleton Public Schools district that will now have AEDs available outside, thanks to Baker’s efforts.
“My hope is that we will have the resources available to help prevent what happened to my dad from happening to someone else,” Baker said. “Whether it be a student at recess playing basketball, a community member using the track or someone walking their dog around the block — that they will all have a chance of survival in the event of a cardiac emergency.”
Turning tragedy into opportunity
Cardiac arrest, when the heart suddenly stops beating, causes about 300,000 to 450,000 deaths in the United States each year, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
When a person goes into cardiac arrest, AEDs and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, allow people to intervene and increase the chance of survival while waiting for emergency medical responders to arrive.
AEDs analyze the heart’s rhythm and may deliver an electrical shock to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm, according to the American Red Cross. Using the device involves attaching pads to a person’s body and following voice prompts from the machine.
Baker said having an AED could have made a difference in her father’s outcome during his cardiac arrest.
It happened on Sept. 8, 2018, when Walsh had come to watch his granddaughter’s outdoor soccer game.
“As we were watching the kids warm up for their game, I saw my dad collapse out of the corner of my eye,” Baker said.
She immediately assessed her father’s condition and started CPR. She said she could still remember herself calling out for someone to grab an AED.
“However, the reality was that since it was a Saturday and the school was locked, we did not have access to an AED,” she said. “A brick wall stood between my dad and a potentially life-saving device.”
Walsh was transported to Baker’s workplace, AdventHealth Littleton, where her coworkers worked tirelessly to save his life. Despite their best efforts, he passed away later that day.
“I knew I had to make it my mission to show my dad that we were going to be okay — that this tragedy was not going to define us, but instead teach us how to take a difficult situation and turn it into an opportunity to carry on his legacy,” Baker said.
From idea to reality
Shortly after her father’s death, Baker followed in his advocacy footsteps and started working with the Anthony Bates Foundation to host heart screenings, something her father had done during his life.
She presented her story to the AdventHealth Littleton Foundation and gained their support to make AEDs readily available to the public.
“We’re honored to be a part of this,” said Rick Ellis, president of the AdventHealth Littleton Foundation board. “Not sure where it’s gonna go from here, but hopefully it goes even further.”
The foundation contributed about $54,000 to the project, a spokesperson said.
They partnered with Littleton Public Schools to place AEDs outside at every middle school and high school in the district, as well as both district stadiums.
Director of Secondary Education Clay Abla said six AEDs are currently in place and the remaining three will be installed over the next few months.
“When we listened to Kara and her story, it was like ‘How do we not do this?’” he said.
Each AED is inside a cabinet called a SaveStation, which is connected to the district’s security system, Abla said. The security system is monitored around the clock every day of the year, he said.
When the SaveStation is opened, an alarm sounds to let people in the area know that an emergency is happening.
At the same time, an alarm goes off in the Littleton Public Schools security office and on the cell phone of Leah Raymond, the district security office manager. The security team will then help coordinate emergency response.
Beyond the hospital
Dr. Matt Mendenhall, AdventHealth Littleton’s chief medical officer, said the hospital is in the process of constructing a new tower dedicated to heart and vascular medical care.
“We’re gonna fill that tower with incredible expertise and the latest and greatest in healthcare technology so that we can serve this community in terms of their … cardiovascular medical needs,” he said. “And that’s only half of the story. If we concentrate all of the expertise and technology in that building, we will be serving the community — but not in every way that it needs.”
Over the course of his career, Mendenhall said he has come to learn that you never know when or where a medical emergency is going to happen.
“We have to figure out ways to distribute technology and expertise out into the community if we’re truly going to save lives,” he said.
Katrysha Gellis White, partnerships manager at SaveStation, said cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, even children.
“It does not discriminate. Doesn’t matter how old you are,” she said. “So it is so important that if a cardiac arrest happens, we educate the public that we cannot wait for first responders to bring an AED and to start CPR.”
Baker said carrying out her father’s legacy has helped her through the tragedy of losing him, and she hopes it will save lives.
“Honor those who have passed with how you move forward,” she said. “That is something I have lived with and it’s gotten me through my grief these last five years … Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time, no matter the age. Be prepared, be educated. You never know whose life you might be saving.”
She said she hopes to bring AEDs and SaveStations to more locations in the area moving forward, including parks and more schools.
The American Red Cross offers online and in-person classes on CPR and AEDs in locations across the metro Denver area. More information on their schedules and prices are available at https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/.
Other organizations in the metro area offer CPR and AED education, including Colorado Cardiac CPR and CPR Choice Denver.