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Should all schools have defibrillators?
Filed under: Health & Safety: Babies, Day Care & Education
Schools are charged with planning emergency procedures for all kinds of situations - fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc. But what about medical emergencies? Should every school in the country have a portable defibrillator in case a student suffers cardiac arrest? Despite a push to equip all schools with these machines, which are used to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm, a study published in an American Heart Association publication, says it is probably not necessary.
A 16-year study in the Seattle area found only 12 incidents of cardiac arrest in a student while at school and one third of those children had known heart problems. They also found that most of the cardiac arrests that happened at school involved adults, not students, and that they occurred most often in high schools and middle schools.
So, why wouldn't a school want a defibrillator handy just in case? Mostly because of the cost. A portable defibrillator costs anywhere from $1000 to $3000 plus the associated staff training costs.
The upshot is the American Heart Association recommends putting defibrillators only in public places where it would take longer than five minutes for emergency medical personnel to arrive - such as rural schools or large campuses.
Schools are already required to identify students with health problems, and it would make sense those campuses would have on hand the means to treat a student should the need arise. But should all schools be so prepared?
A 16-year study in the Seattle area found only 12 incidents of cardiac arrest in a student while at school and one third of those children had known heart problems. They also found that most of the cardiac arrests that happened at school involved adults, not students, and that they occurred most often in high schools and middle schools.
So, why wouldn't a school want a defibrillator handy just in case? Mostly because of the cost. A portable defibrillator costs anywhere from $1000 to $3000 plus the associated staff training costs.
The upshot is the American Heart Association recommends putting defibrillators only in public places where it would take longer than five minutes for emergency medical personnel to arrive - such as rural schools or large campuses.
Schools are already required to identify students with health problems, and it would make sense those campuses would have on hand the means to treat a student should the need arise. But should all schools be so prepared?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
8-29-2007 @ 12:13PM
W. H. Heydt said...These days, when you take a CPR course, they also train you to use an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED). It is a truly amazing machine. Not only will it analyze what the heart is doing (if anything), but it will also give audible counts for CPR.
Lowest price I've seen (and it was last year) is $850. I think within 5 years they'll be below $500, and possibly below $300 and any household that claims to be prepared for emergencies will have one.
We need a comment from Roger Sinasohn... Are teachers already required to maintain current First Aid and CPR certificates? If so, there is no additional training cost.
Reply
8-29-2007 @ 12:53PM
Joy said...I'm from the opinion that "if it saves one person" whether it's a child or an adult, why not have it?
Reply
8-29-2007 @ 2:58PM
Sabrina said...In a word? YES! Even if it's more for teachers than students people are people and it's only a matter of time before someone needs emergency care, unfortunately. And it's true, First AID/CPR classes routinely include AED now, and I've attended more than one in the last 5 years. As for teachers keeping current certification in emergency firast aid/CPR, even if it's not mandatory, it's the smart thing to do!
Reply
8-29-2007 @ 5:25PM
Sandyone said...All I can think of is the vandalism that kids will pull with this equipment. What's to stop a kid from thinking it'd be funny to pull one down and zap his buddy or his enemy? I wonder how you can secure it and yet still have it accessible in an emergency. I guess maybe keeping it in a central area of the school, but the increased security would limit availability.
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8-29-2007 @ 8:04PM
Uncle Roger said...In California, teachers are required to have first aid/CPR certification in order to get their credential. In my wife's district, however, it does not seem to be a requirement to keep it current, although I agree that it is a very good idea.
I haven't looked closely, but I seem to recall seeing the AED's at the nursing home where we hang out having locks on them. Perhaps they have a "break glass" kind of feature? I'll check tomorrow night. I expect that an AED at a school would be kept in the office with the rest of the first aid supplies. I'm not sure how significant the delay for a strapping young pre-teen to run it from the office to where it was needed would be -- certainly, it would be faster than waiting for an ambulance, which would likely be the alternative.
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9-11-2007 @ 8:48AM
acrolein said...dear Sandyone - your worry about vandalism and torture are unfounded. YOU should take a cPR / Defib training class before you post to this subject anymore. If you knew anything about oit you would know that it takes time to charge up the machine, it is computer driven and 99.44/100% of the time smarter than the personal holding the contact paddles. It is safer than any handgun ever made in the hands of the uninitiated. That means that even YOU could not deliberatly hurt someone with a defib machine.
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