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 cost,” O’Brien said, suggesting working with different civic groups raise funds.

O’Brien said Liberty Junior High School has an defibrillator crisis team, which responds in an emergency. During most CPR training classes, trainees are taught how to use defibrillators, O’Brien said, and they realize quickly they are easy to use because the machine provides direction.

“I would like to see more of them available at schools,” O’Brien said.

At Bloom Township High District 206, the district has 25 defibrillators available in every athletic space and outside gathering spaces, such as the theater and cafeteria, said athletic director Joe Reda. Of the 25 defibrillators, Reda said 10 are bilingual.

The district’s coaches, security staff and administrators have been trained, Reda said. Last summer, about 20% of teachers and staff were trained in CPR and defibrillators, and this summer another 40% of teachers and staff will be trained, he said.

Every month, Reda said he checks the defibrillator machines to make sure the batteries and pads work. Each defibrillator costs about $1,800, excluding maintenance, Reda said, and the district purchased them with a mixture of district funds and grants.

“It’s a purchase I hope we never have to use,” Reda said.

Lockport District 205 has eight defibrillators. At east campus, they are outside the auditorium, in the nurse’s office, outside the main gym, outside the field house and in the building’s largest hallway. At central campus, they are outside the auditorium, the gym and the main office, McBride said.

Additionally, near each defibrillator the district installed stop the bleed kits, which have supplies needed for major trauma events, McBride said. The district also has Narcan, medicine that can help someone who overdoses, available in the buildings and on buses, he said.

“The proper placement is where they can be accessed if there was an incident in the classroom but also accessed in a large, public gathering,” McBride said.

For training, gym teachers, administrators and support staff are trained in CPR and defibrillator use. All staff are trained in using the stop the bleed kits and about 120 administrators and staff are trained in using Narcan, he said.

Tinley Park High School has six defibrillators available, Couwenhoven said, and staff go through training every couple years.

Defibrillators talk to the user, Couwenhoven said, so someone who hasn’t been trained can use the machines. The machine won’t deliver a shock to the person unless one is needed, he said.

“There is some training that you could do, but the AEDs themselves walk you through, they have voice prompts, and have signs within them that tell you what to do and how to use them,” Couwenhoven said.

While the machines are easy to use, O’Brien said she’d encourage everyone to get training.

“In the event of an emergency, I’m going to appreciate somebody talking to me and telling me what to do. But, it is kind of nice just to be familiar when you open up that AED machine,” O’Brien said.