March 2013 - the International School of Stavanger

From the Director:
“Lights. Camera. Action.”
On Monday, January 14th, ISS became the setting
for a British television filmshoot. It was not exactly
a typical day at an international school, but one that
the school was willing to play a small role in as it was
such a compelling subject.
The British network ITV, (yes, that same network
that has produced “Downton Abbey” along with a
whole host of other well-known shows), has a weekly
current affairs programme entitled, “Tonight.”
The topic for their show, scheduled to be aired on
Thursday, February 7, is connected to the concept that
prior knowledge of first aid is crucial when medical
emergencies take place.
Lights? Camera? Action!
The view of the ITV producers is that in the case
of an individual having a heart attack, the victim’s
chance of survival is exponentially greater if the
emergency happens in Stavanger, Norway, than if it
happens in the United Kingdom. Why is that? The
ITV producers believe it is because here in Norway
there is a much more rigorous discipline of teaching
students first aid in schools and then following up on
that with refresher training in the workplace. All this
leads to a greater degree of confidence in being able to
react when there is a sudden need.
To prove their point, the producers researched their
theory through a number of sources, including
Lærdal Medical which has its home office in
Stavanger and then a three-person ITV crew traveled
here to interview a doctor at the Stavanger University
Hospital who has researched cardiac survival statistics
and they also stopped off at ISS to watch and film our
9th grade health classes in action.
Stavanger is quite an interesting place because of its
connection to Lærdal Medical, (http://www.laerdal.
com/gb/), which is the “home” of the Resusci-Anne
dolls and their ground-breaking work in helping lay
people know how to react in medical crisis situations.
We use both the dolls for CPR training, but also
Lærdal cardiac defibrillators which are also known as
AEDs, (Automated External Defibrillators).
Margaux tries to save ‘Annie’ using CPR
ISS has long had first-aid training for our employees
and students. Additionally, since 2002, we have been
training all of our employees and our students in
their health classes in 7th, 8th and 9th grades in the
use of AEDs. We have AED training models, but
more importantly “real” AEDs that are distributed
throughout the school and also available for our
student groups to take along on field trips. (And no,
I am not on the payroll of Lærdal, but I have long
admired their corporate ethics and their dedication to
helping lay people know how to save lives.)
Our school got involved, particularly with the AEDs,
2 · The Informer 23 January 2013 www.isstavanger.no