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LOCAL
TEEN RECEIVES NATIONAL H.E.R.O. AWARD
MILWAUKEE - Homestead High School Graduate David Ellis, 18, recently received the national Health Education Recognition Objective (H.E.R.O.) Award for bringing public access defibrillation to his high school and launching Project A.D.A.M. The H.E.R.O. Award was presented by School Health Corporation, the leading provider of school health supplies in the nation. Ellis founded Project A.D.A.M. (Automatic Defibrillators in Adam's Memory) after his close friend, Adam Lemel, died of sudden cardiac arrest while playing high school basketball in January 1999. Project A.D.A.M. aims to bring CPR training and public access defibrillation to all Wisconsin high schools. It is now an entity within Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. "David has championed the cause of public access defibrillation," said Susan Rogers, president of School Health Corporation. "Because of David's efforts, a high school athlete, spectator or faculty member who experiences sudden cardiac arrest may have a second chance at life." Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart abruptly stops beating. This most often results from a disturbance in the heart's electrical activity, which causes it to quiver uncontrollably and renders it unable to efficiently pump blood. Nearly 1,000 Americans die of sudden cardiac arrest each day according to the American Heart Association. Automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) can convert the heart's irregular electrical activity into a normal rhythm, allowing the heart to pump normally after a cardiac arrest. For each minute that passes without defibrillation, a cardiac arrest victim's chance of survival decreases seven to 10 percent. For this reason, public health advocates, including the American Heart Association, nurses, cardiologists and even President Clinton recommend that AEDs be readily accessible wherever large groups of people congregate. Ellis is one of two individuals honored with the H.E.R.O. Award. The other H.E.R.O. recipient is Pediatric Cardiologist Stuart Berger M.D., medical director of both Project A.D.A.M. and the Heart Center of Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Ellis resides in Mequon, Wis., with his parents, Dean and Wendy Ellis. He also has two brothers, Jonathan, 23, and Michael,11. This fall he plans to attend Emory University in Atlanta where he will study pre-medicine. Founded in 1950, School Health Corporation achieved success in the industry by focusing on the needs of its customers and by broadening its product line to include a wide variety of medical supplies. Located in Hanover Park, Ill., School Health Corporation has a 50,000 square-foot brick and mortar facility well equipped to fulfill orders made through its Web site, healthgiant.com, and through its printed catalogs.
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