American Heart Association names HEB ISD a 'District of Lifesavers' for cardiac readiness

If a heart stops inside a Euless school, the building already has the plan, the people, and the equipment to give that person a real chance. That is the certification behind the American Heart Association's recognition of Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD in October as a "District of Lifesavers" — one of five Texas districts to complete key milestones in the association's Nation of Lifesavers initiative during the 2025-26 school year.

The other four districts recognized alongside HEB ISD are Carroll-Southlake ISD, Gatesville ISD, Godley ISD, and Splendora ISD. The milestones are not plaques: each district implemented or strengthened a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan, expanded CPR education for students and staff, and improved AED awareness and response planning.

HEB ISD is the largest school district in Texas to adopt a districtwide Cardiac Emergency Response Plan, and the plan reaches all 30 of its campuses. Each campus has a nurse and an administrator assigned to the plan, and the plan is reassessed every year.

On the ground, that looks like Hands-Only CPR demonstrations during staff-development days, CPR and AED drills for staff and students at every campus, digital campus maps shared with local EMS for a faster response, classroom emergency checklists, and more automated external defibrillators on campuses.

Joy Keohane, HEB ISD's district coordinator of health services, built the plan from the American Heart Association's own toolkit. "I knew we needed a plan for our district, so I started researching and found that the American Heart Association had created a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP) toolkit," she said. "We used the toolkit to create our plan, and it has been a great resource for our district."

Superintendent Joe Harrington framed the commitment as a starting point, not a finish line. "HEB ISD remains dedicated to the safety of our students, staff, and community and is proud to be a District of Lifesavers," he said. "Having a plan that empowers people to act quickly and correctly during a cardiac emergency can save lives. We're starting with HEB ISD and advocating for other districts across Texas to work with the American Heart Association and implement a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan."

The numbers behind it

More than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States each year, and roughly 90% are fatal. Immediate CPR can double or triple a victim's chance of survival.

That math is why the Nation of Lifesavers initiative aims to double survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by 2030, from about 10% to 20% — and why the trained hands in a Euless hallway matter more than the ambulance that arrives minutes later.

Close to home

For Euless families, the plan is not an abstraction. The HEB ISD campuses within city limits are Trinity High School at 500 N. Industrial Blvd., Euless Junior High at 306 W. Airport Freeway, and seven elementary schools: Arbor Creek, Lakewood, Midway Park, North Euless, Oakwood Terrace, South Euless, and Wilshire.

The district built the readiness in partnership with the American Heart Association, Project Adam, and Texas Health HEB.

Anyone in Euless can find the same training the district gives its staff. The American Heart Association's free Course Catalog Search lists authorized CPR and AED training centers, including Heartsaver CPR AED courses for the general public.

Learning where the training is offered — and where the nearest AED sits — is how a neighbor becomes the next link in the chain.