[jmaellis]

Originally Posted by BayStateRef

While we're at it, let's put one in every Denny's. And every McDonald's. And every church. And every automobile. And then....let's put one in....

I presume the Ohio schools are as large as those around here. And I presume that they are "locked" except for the gym on weekends when the youth leagues play. So how many defibs do we need? One for the gym; one for the auditorium; one for the cafeteria. Then one for each floor. And then....make sure to have a paramedic or RN or EMT or someone proficient enough to use it in an emergency.

I don't believe the answer to this tragedy is defibs in the school. Sometimes tragedies occur. We don't always know what's happening with a human heart. Let's not pretend we can prevent every death, "if only....."

A truly asinine statement!!

AED are very simple to use and don't require any specialized training ... just follow the instructions, they are idiot proof, cept for the idiots who don't think that they are a good idea to have at hand.

Many of the high school age sudden cardiac deaths during athletics turn out to be attributed to a condition called long Q-T syndrome, symptoms typically don't appear until adolescence. An AED could save the life of a kid who goes down because of this problem. I did a lot of research on this recently when my 14 year old daughter began fainting during volleyball practice. The doctor's initial thought was long Q-T syndrome (it turns out not to be the problem). I hadn't thought about finding out if there is an AED in the gym at her high school until read this thread. I'm going to find out now and if there is not, well, I guess it's fund raising time.