aed news

Schools get defibrillators

By KATINA TENGESDAL, Staff Writer

More than 300 schools in North Dakota are now outfitted with automated external defibrillators, thanks to the 2007 North Dakota Legislature.
The Legislature appropriated $400,000 for the Safe Heart Schools program. The AEDs went to schools that did not already have the device.
“The benefit of having AEDs is that they provide lifesaving measures. In the event of sudden cardiac arrest, someone can be recessitated very easily (with an AED). We have a lot of rural schools that have access to EMS services that are 40 miles away and that are often volunteer. To rely on somebody that distance away, and a volunteer effort, is pretty scary,” said Valerie Fischer, director of school health for the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.
An AED is a device about the size of a laptop computer that analyzes the heart’s rhythm for any abnormalities and directs the rescuer to deliver an electric shock to the victim if necessary. The shock, called defibrillation, may help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm of its own.
Fischer explained that cost was an issue for many schools that wanted AEDs, which run anywhere from $1,500 to $1,800.
“Cost was a big issue for a lot of the schools that wanted them. Especially in a small rural school, coming up with $1,500 to $1,800 is hard. We were able to purchase them for $951 and some odd cents as a result of our vendor contract process,” Fischer said.
The Safe Heart Schools program placed 365 AEDs in 300 cabinets across the state. Every school in North Dakota now has an AED. Fischer explained that North Dakota was the first to have a statewide program to get AEDs in schools.
“I think the sad part about it all is that it came after the last two years in which three North Dakota students have died, and so we’re hoping that because of the AEDs in schools, we won’t have students, staff, or community members die (of cardiac arrest in schools). If they do, we know that every life measure was taken to try and save them,” Fischer said.
Many Minot area schools have recently received AEDs as a result of the funds, including Bell, South Prairie, Eureka and Nedrose elementaries, Magic City Campus, South River Campus (the alternative high school in Minot), and St. Leo’s and Little Flower schools.
Fisher said her department has advised schools to mount the AEDs in an accessible location, preferably near the gymnasium.
“The majority of people who will suffer from cardiac arrest will do so when they are exerted, and that’s why it makes sense to have them next to a gymnasium. Also, that is where the bulk of community functions are held,” Fischer said.
School personnel have been encouraged to be trained in the use of AEDs as well as CPR, Fischer said.
According to DPI, statistics show that more than 200,000 Americans die of sudden cardiac arrest each year. As many as 50,000 of those deaths could have been prevented if someone had initiated the Cardiac Chain of Survival and if an AED had been available for immediate use at the time of the emergency.

Schools now have AEDs

By Stephanie Hacke, Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Saving a life is never easy, but without the right equipment, it can be nearly impossible.
Woodland Hills School District nurses and staff now have a better chance at saving a life if someone in the district experiences cardiac arrest. This month, all nine schools in the district were equipped with a total of 15 automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) -- devices that shock the heart to restore normal rhythm -- to bring the number of AEDs in the district to 19.
"This is extremely important for our district," said Andrea Kennedy, nurse at the high school.
"We have a lot of students and a couple hundred staff .... It's extremely important that we're able to have these AEDs available for our students, staff and the community, because our buildings aren't just used during the day, they're used after school by the community as well."
The 15 AEDs were made available at no cost to the district through Pittsburgh United for Life Saving Emergencies (PULSE), which was created by St. Margaret Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Pittsburgh.
Each AED costs roughly $4,000, which includes the kit, prescriptions and batteries, said David Bianco, PULSE program coordinator. This totals nearly $60,000 donated to the district.
Free training is also provided by the organization, to anyone the district chooses to have trained.
"I believe their goal is to have more than 400 teachers trained to use these .... It's great, they've been great to work with on this," Bianco said.
Each year, more than 465,000 people die from sudden cardiac arrest in the United States.
If a person experiencing cardiac arrest receives immediate shock, they have a 90 percent chance of survival, yet if no shock is administered within 10 minutes, the person has only a 5 percent chance of survival, according to PULSE.
Timing is key, which is the reason the district needs such a high number of AEDs, because of the size of its buildings and the amount of time it takes to reach the location of each AED.
"The goal is that there is one of these that can be reached from any place in the building within 90 seconds," Bianco said.
"You figure, if it takes 90 seconds to get to one of these, that's already three minutes before they even get to the person."
The high school, which houses roughly 1,800 students, has five of the 19 AEDs -- one each near the pool, gym, health office and auditorium and one with the district's athletic trainer.
"High school students are probably the most likely to need them," Bianco said.
"As you get older, you have a greater chance of experiencing cardiac arrest."
He explained that the likelihood of experiencing cardiac arrest increases with age and athletic involvement.
But it's still important to have AEDs in the elementary schools.
"Sometimes there are un-known health problems that can cause it to happen at any age," Kennedy said.
Annie Johnson, school nurse at Wilkins Primary, said the AEDs are important to have, "not just for my students, but for my staff."
Both Johnson and Kennedy said it's exciting to know that if an emergency happens, they have a better chance at saving a life.
"I'm very excited we have them. I just hope I never have to use it," Johnson said.
"It's wonderful to have PULSE, as an organization, to donate these to us," Kennedy said.
While the donation from PULSE is greatly appreciated by the district, Bianco said, the district deserves just as much credit for taking precautionary measures.
"PULSE can only provide the tools.
"If they didn't come to us looking to get these into their schools, we wouldn't have been able to help them. Once we put them in the schools, it's their job to implement the emergency action plan .... It's basically the sites who do most of the work," Bianco said.
Mike LeDonne, an employee in the district, found out about PULSE while helping his son with an Eagle Scout award and contacted Ken-nedy about the program, who got district administrators on board, Kennedy said.
District administrators contacted Bianco in Septem-ber.
While Bianco said he tries to make the donations in order of requests, school districts and police departments top the list of importance.
"I feel very, very grateful to Dave and PULSE, just for helping us to be able to do this. What a wonderful holiday for the district .... We're very grateful.
"We're now moving forward to have all of our professional staff trained," Kennedy said.
Both Kennedy and Bianco used the term "proactive" when describing the district's approach to getting the AEDs placed in the schools.
"It's definitely one of the more proactive districts I've dealt with," Bianco said. "They were very committed to doing this.
Bianco said he commended the district for taking the initiative to get the AEDs in place.
The equipment Bianco placed in the district is easy to use, Kennedy said.
While shocking a person may be intimidating, both Bianco and Kennedy said the machine makes it easy.
"It walks you through ev-ery step you need to take," Kennedy said.
"When people tell me they're scared, I tell them my 5-year-old son has tried it on a dummy and he's never gotten it wrong," Bianco said.
Kennedy said she already has showed the machine to all of the teachers at the high school during an in-service day.
In February, 200 teachers from the district will be trained to use the AEDs.
And shortly thereafter, Bianco said, he'd like to train the other 200.
Other districts that have AEDs in place from PULSE include Pittsburgh Public Schools, North Allegheny, Fox Chapel, Deer Lakes, Hamp-ton, North Hills and Kiski Area.
Yet Bianco emphasized that schools aren't the only sites where PULSE places AEDs.
In the last year, PULSE worked with Edgewood Police Department to replace older AEDs the department was using.
Edgewood Police Chief Paul Wood said he can't see any reason why public places wouldn't apply to receive AEDs from PULSE.
"They're lifesaving instruments.
"If you have anything that gives you a higher percent of survival, why wouldn't you take it?"
Wood said there is one AED in each car on the streets and his officers have used them several times.
"Those things are great. Just to have them, it's got to make you feel like you have a better chance of saving someone when you get called out."

Grant aids placement of heart defibrillators

York-Poquoson Judge Prentis Smiley says his life was saved by the device after he suffered a heart attack.

By JON CAWLEY | December 27, 2007 YORK - Nearly nine months after he suffered a massive heart attack while presiding over a case, York-Poquoson Circuit Court Judge Prentis Smiley can speak frankly about the event that nearly claimed his life.
The 68-year-old judge said the situation could have been catastrophic had there not been ready access to a portable heart defibrillator that was kept in a hallway outside the courtroom.
Because of that, Smiley received critical treatment within a minute of suffering cardiac arrest.
He is now back on the bench and expected to recover fully, he said.
York County officials are also convinced Smiley was saved by the Automated External Defibrillator that administers an electrical pulse to jump start and rhythmically align flagging heart beats in the critical minutes before paramedics arrive.
Since the high-profile event — and other instances where York sheriff's deputies successfully used the devices during medical emergencies — county officials have pushed for, and received, a $32,000 grant from the Williamsburg Community Health Foundation's "Heart-Start, Save A Life" program to help move forward an effort to place AEDs in every one of the county's public buildings.
Smiley credits the swift actions of an emergency medical technician and CPR instructor who happened to be in the courtroom — as a witness and bailiff, respectively — for not only saving his life but preventing brain damage that could have resulted from oxygen deprivation had his heart gone much longer without pumping.
"No pulse. No heart beat. No breath. I was dead," Smiley recalled. "Because of the quick response, they revived me and the defibrillator provided the shock to get my heart started."
Since returning to the bench in July, Smiley said he has been contacted by judicial counterparts in Hampton, Newport News and across the state who were interested in obtaining AEDs for their courthouses.
"They said my event brought to their attention the need to install AEDs," he said. "Good things can happen when bad things occur."
The grant money will fund the purchase of 27 AEDs — 19 short of the 46 units that were recommended by a countywide assessment — and a $10,000 York County matching donation will cover training and supplies not paid by the foundation, a York County statement said.
A number of the devices are already employed at the York-Poquoson courthouse, in every public school, at Riverwalk Landing, most public parks, the county's finance building and in law enforcement and fire/rescue vehicles, said Thom Schwalenberg, a York County Fire and Lifesaving battalion chief who helped spearhead the project.
More defibrillators are needed in county administration buildings and in vehicles driven by building officials and general services employees who conduct site inspections — frequently at out-of-the way construction sites, Schwalenberg said.
"You wouldn't have a building without a fire extinguisher," Schwalenberg said. "We'd like to make these just as common."

Foundation supplies lifesaving devices
Geneva, Conneaut schools given heart defibrillators

By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer -
Star Beacon

GENEVA — It breaks Linette Derminer’s heart when she saves the hearts of others.

Derminer, founder of the Kids Endangered Now (KEN) Heart Foundation, lost her teenage son Ken Derminer to Sudden cardiac arrest in 2007.
Ken Derminer, 17, died as he participated in a football clinic at Geneva High School.
To honor her son’s memory, Linette Derminer and the volunteers of the KEN Heart Foundation donate portable cardiac defibrillators to schools and organizations, hoping to raise awareness and prevent sudden cardiac arrest from occurring among young people, including athletes.
The foundation was saving hearts again last week when it donated a portable automatic external defibrillator (AED) to the Geneva Junior High School basketball team to share with traveling teams. An AED is a portable electric shock device that restores proper heart rhythms.
A second defibrillator was donated to Conneaut Middle School, KEN founder Linette Derminer said.
The foundation also donated a training unit to UH-Geneva and UH-Conneaut medical centers’ community outreach programs, which conduct cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED training. For more information on the training programs, call (440) 998-5763 or (440) 415-0261.
“We have the only national database of sudden cardiac arrest cases of school-age students and distribute it to physicians, health and athletic organizations throughout the country,” Derminer said.
The nonprofit foundation raises money through bingo games at the Kathryn Rose Party Center, located on North Bend Road, Thursdays. Games start at 6:30 p.m.
“The fund-raising campaigns for us have always been challenging, especially because of all the natural disasters recently,” Derminer said.
“We hope the continued support of our weekly bingo patrons and annual heart walk will allow us to carry on our mission,” she said.

Gifts from the heart

Muskego teen raises money for devices for middle schools

By ERIN RICHARDS

Posted: Dec. 22, 2007

Muskego teenager Jenny Giera had never really taken on a cause before. Jenny Giera, a student athlete, raised money single-handedly to buy Lake Denoon Middle School an automated external defibrillator after she read about how one of the devices at a school had saved a student's life during an athletic event. She then raised money to buy one for the other Muskego middle school.

Click to enlarge

Giera, 14, plays basketball at Lake Denoon Middle School.

She had played the piano for seniors at a local retirement center, and she had helped out with a few church activities over the years, but it wasn't until she read a sports story in the newspaper last year about a fellow student athlete that Giera decided to raise money for a cause. The student went into sudden cardiac arrest and was saved by the use of the school's automated external defibrillator.

So when Giera found out that Lake Denoon Middle School didn't have a defibrillator, the polite and soft-spoken basketball player, then 13, raised enough money in the community to buy two for the Muskego-Norway School District: for Lake Denoon, where Giera is now 14, and for Bay Lane Middle School.

"It was tough to ask for money for these the first couple of times, but then it got easier," said Giera, who visited with managers at local businesses and gave out letters asking them to donate $50, $75 or $100 for the devices.

With the help of Lake Denoon's seventh-grade science teacher and activities coordinator Mark Nagy, Giera collected the checks.

Then she worked concession stands during athletic events and applied for grants online to pay for the devices, which cost more than $2,000 apiece.

Automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, are small, user-friendly machines that can restart a heart after cardiac arrest. The machines administer a jolt of electricity to the victim, and they often have a voice system that administers step-by-step instructions to the potential rescuer.

Once available only to medical industry professionals, AEDs have seen a surge in consumer interest over the past five or six years for use in schools, businesses, government offices, airports, health clubs and any other place where the public congregates.

Nationwide, supporters hope the units become as ubiquitous as fire extinguishers, and some states are passing legislation to require them in schools.

In Milwaukee, Health Services Coordinator for Milwaukee Public Schools Kathleen Murphy said the district is about three-quarters toward its goal of having a unit in each of its buildings.

"We have about 118 schools and district buildings right now with defibrillators, and we hope to have a unit in every school building by the end of the year or early next year," Murphy said.

The likelihood of youths experiencing potentially fatal heart problems is low - a study from the September issue of the journal Circulation found that faculty and staff in Seattle-area schools were 25 times more likely than students to suffer cardiac arrest - but the need for the devices is still tremendous, said Stuart Berger, a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa.

"There are multiple examples of situations and schools where lives have been saved by these devices in Milwaukee and the surrounding areas," said Berger, who is also the medical director for Project ADAM, which advocates for CPR and AED programs in schools. The campaign was launched after the death in 1999 of Adam Lemel, a Whitefish Bay High School student who collapsed while playing basketball in a junior varsity game in Grafton.

"Hats off to this young girl for starting a program that may very well save lives at school and educate a community in CPR and AED training to provide this therapy," Berger said.

Giera, an athlete with a keen interest in health issues, said she was spurred to action after reading the story in the Journal Sentinel and talking it over with her mom. Then Giera learned that her mother, Laurie Giera, had had a serious heart problem when she was about Jenny's age.

"Mine was a congenital heart problem that I had had since birth," said Laurie Giera. "I started getting cramps in my legs and they found a blockage in my aorta. I had heart surgery when I was 13 - a bypass had to be put into my aorta."

Although Laurie Giera said an AED couldn't have helped her heart problem, which was resolved after surgery, she was impressed with her daughter's commitment to raising money for the devices.

"She initially contacted the athletic director at the high school about the idea, and then I just drove her around to various businesses and talked to her about who to ask for," Laurie Giera said. "Then she went online and said to me, 'My gosh, these are $3,000 apiece!' And I told her she should look for a grant."

Jenny Giera said she found a grant through www.aedgrant.com, where a company selects between 750 and 1,200 applicants a year and assists them with purchasing the devices, which can range from $1,300 to more than $3,000.

"When I started 3Â½ years ago, we got between one and two applications a day at AEDgrant.com, and now we get between six and 20 applications a day," said Jessica Dennis, safety consultant and grant coordinator at American CPR Training. American CPR Training has been running AEDgrant.com since 2001.

Dennis said that with the growing success rate of the devices, it's important to have funding options available to individuals and organizations that can't afford them, such as churches, small fitness facilities or volunteer fire departments.

After Giera's fund-raising efforts last year, Lake Denoon and Bay Lane were able to install the AEDs at the beginning of this school year. At Lake Denoon, the device hangs between the busy gymnasium and school commons, and Nagy said he plans to add a plaque recognizing Giera for her efforts, in addition to the plaque already there that recognizes the businesses that contributed.

"As wonderful as it is to have, I hope we never have to use it," Nagy said. "But it sure is a comfort."