Schools Make Safety Training a Priority

By Adam Swift

Winthrop schools are putting safety first for students and staff.

During the district’s last half day, Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard said there was an excellent Stop the Bleed (tourniquet training), AED (automated external defibrillator) and CPR training for staff.

“Although we don’t like to think about them, they are things that our teachers really felt like they needed,” said Howard. “Back in 2018 or 2019, we did our first Stop the Bleed, which is tourniquet training, and that was very difficult for our staff to think about putting tourniquets on people in a school. However, that, along with CPR and our AED training, I think makes our staff more comfortable.”

Howard said all the medical training and techniques can also be used by staff for medical situations that arise outside of school, as well.

“We did get some really good feedback from staff about being appreciative of that,” she said.

The training also shows the collaboration of the school department working together with the police, fire, and town health departments, as well as Action Ambulance.

“We have well over 300 employees, and we have limited time to do a lot of our professional development, but this one was a big one for us because of the benefits district wide and town wide,” said Howard.

The training should be completed across all four district schools by the end of next month, Howard said.

There’s also more good news on the AED front. Howard said at the next School Committee meeting, she’ll be announcing a donation from one of the town’s foundations that will be used to update and purchase additional AEDS for the school buildings.

By law, schools need one AED per building. Currently, there is one on each floor of the middle and high schools, two at the Arthur T. Cummings School, and one at the Gorman-Fort Banks School, along with four travel AEDs used by the district’s athletic trainers and coaches.

“The donation we are receiving is going to allow us to purchase a handful more of these devices with the goal of eventually having them on every floor of every building,” said Howard. “We feel the Arthur T. Cummings and the Gorman-Fort Banks need more devices.”

The way the schools are set up, Howard said she doesn’t want there to be an incident where someone has to run from the third floor to the first floor to get an AED.

“We want them on every floor, and ideally, on every end of our buildings,” she said.

Howard added that the district is also looking to purchase an AED for the outside of the fieldhouse at Miller Field.