Dr. John Asekhame, a consultant physician and cardiologist at Providence Multi‑Specialty Hospital in Abuja, has called on schools that hold inter‑house sports competitions to provide ambulance services and heart‑resuscitation devices. He stresses that school owners and administrators should not wait for emergencies before planning for the health and safety of their students. Asekhame made these remarks in an exclusive interview with HealthWise while reacting to the death of Whitney Adeniran, a 12‑year‑old student of Chrisland International High School, Opebi, Lagos, who collapsed during the school’s inter‑house sports activities at Agege Stadium last Thursday.
Whitney’s mother, Mrs. Blessing Adeniran, said her daughter was full of life when she left for school and had no known health condition. After Whitney collapsed, she was rushed to a hospital where the doctor on duty indicated that she had suffered a cardiac arrest. The grieving mother lamented the lack of proper first‑aid management, noting that nothing was done for her daughter when she collapsed, and she was brought to the hospital already dead.
Asekhame emphasized that, beyond providing ambulances and defibrillators, schools must train staff in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). He noted that only an autopsy can determine the exact cause of Whitney’s death, but stressed that every school hosting inter‑house sports should have ambulance services on standby. “If a governor travels, he carries an ambulance; if a president travels, he carries an ambulance,” he said. “When you are doing a programme like this, you need to plan for the health and safety of everybody.” He recommended that schools engage health‑and‑safety specialists to assess the venue, have doctors and nurses—preferably paediatricians—on site, and ensure an ambulance is present for any gathering of more than 50 people. Additionally, a trained CPR provider and an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) should be readily available.
CPR is a lifesaving technique useful in emergencies such as heart attacks or near‑drowning, where breathing or heartbeat has stopped. An AED delivers a high‑energy electric shock to a heart in cardiac arrest. Asekhame pointed out that everyone should be trained in CPR. “If you see someone collapse in the United States, you will see someone performing CPR until an ambulance arrives. In Nigeria, people often pour water on the person instead,” he observed, suggesting that Whitney might have survived had trained responders been present and an AED been on hand.
The cardiologist warned that many schools lack personnel trained in cardiac resuscitation, calling for widespread CPR training and the availability of AEDs. He added that an AED could have been used to shock Whitney’s heart back into rhythm before she was taken to the hospital. “If an AED was handy, it could have been used to resuscitate her,” he said.
Asekhame urged school owners to protect their students’ lives and not wait for a tragedy to learn the lesson. The British Heart Foundation notes that defibrillators should be used during cardiac arrest, with CPR performed until the device can be applied. Defibrillators are commonly located in workplaces and public spaces such as airports, shopping centres, community centres, and train stations.
In response to Whitney’s death, the Lagos State Government has ordered a coroner’s inquest to determine the cause of death and has temporarily closed Chrisland School, Opebi‑Ikeja. The directive was posted on the Lagos State Government’s Instagram page on Sunday night. On Monday, protesters gathered in front of the school, with police officers stationed around the premises.
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