What is the standard?

Southland high school officials differ on level of state guidance needed for defibrillator training, availability

School districts in the south and southwest suburbs have different numbers of automated external defibrillators available, but officials have different opinions on whether the state should provide more guidance on availability.

Defibrillators are portable machines used to help someone experiencing cardiac arrest. In Illinois, state law requires schools and other public places to have defibrillators, but leave it up to school officials to determine how many should be in buildings.

Lockport Township High

School District 205 Superintendent Robert McBride said the state should give more guidance and funding to schools to make sure a consistent number of defibrillators are available.

Tinley Park High School associate principal Randy Couwenhoven said the state requires defibrillators, it should be left up to each district to determine how many should be purchased.

“I think what the state has done in that regard, making sure that all schools have them, is a good thing,” Couwenhoven said.

Cook County Board member Donna Miller sponsored a resolution asking Congress to pass the

Access to AEDs Act, championed by Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac crisis during an NFL game in January.

The act would award grants to eligible entities to develop and implement a program for student access to defibrillation in public elementary and secondary schools.

“Cardiac crises can happen anywhere, and we need to ensure we’re prepared to respond regardless of where one occurs,” Miller said. “In Cook County, we have made real progress to expand CPR and AED training and access, but this work must also be done at the federal level.”

Bridget O’Brien, an eighth grade teacher at Liberty Junior High School in New Lenox, organized CPR training classes with the New Lenox Fire Department after her husband had a sudden cardiac arrest last year. She praised Miller’s resolution.

Liberty Junior High has two defibrillators in the building, O’Brien said, but she’s heard from other teachers that their schools have different numbers.

“I think more schools would love to have more AED machines, but then of course, there is that

ALEXANDRA KUKULKA/DAILY SOUTHTOWN An automated external defibrillator, a portable machine that can be used to help someone experiencing cardiac arrest, sits outside the Lockport Township High School east campus locker room.

RON HUME Naperville firefighter/paramedic Daryl MacDonald demonstrates how to use an automated external defibrillator machine at a recent safety class.

BRIDGET O’BRIEN David Nenn went into cardiac arrest June 9 two weeks before his wedding with Bridget O’Brien.