Hardy Elementary School will be recognized on Feb. 20 for becoming the fourth Isle of Wight County school to earn the designation of a “Project ADAM heart safe school.”

This means the school has met the criteria to show preparedness for responding to a sudden cardiac arrest on school grounds.

Other heart-safe schools in the division include Windsor Elementary and Westside Elementary, which were the first two schools in Virginia to be Project Adam safe schools, and Windsor High School, which was the first Project Adam certified high school in the Commonwealth.

The designation will be granted by Dr. John Phillips, medical director of the Children’s Hospital of Richmond and Project Adam affiliate.

Project ADAM, an acronym for Automated Defibrillation in Adam’s Memory, was created in memory of Wisconsin teenager Adam Lemel, who suffered sudden cardiac arrest and died while playing basketball in 1999.

An automated external defibrillator, or AED, is a medical device that can analyze the heart’s rhythm and automatically deliver an electrical shock when necessary to restore normal rhythm.

Project ADAM, a nationwide nonprofit, sets 14 preparedness criteria for school staff to respond to a sudden cardiac arrest on school grounds, including having on-site AEDs and CPR/AED certified team members.