April 16, 2008–WASHINGTON–Emergency legislation requiring the installation of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in dozens of D.C. government buildings was withdrawn at the last minute Tuesday for further study.
Less than a week after the death of a 10-year-old boy in a D.C. public school gym, the council was set to consider an emergency bill mandating AEDs in 52 District recreation centers and libraries at a cost of roughly $250,000.
But Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas pulled it back for two weeks with the expectation that it will be expanded to all public buildings, including schools.
Thomas said the issue took on an urgent nature after the Thursday incident at LaSalle Elementary School in Northeast.
“I don’t know whether it would have saved him, but the device needs to be there so we don’t have that question in our minds,” Thomas said during a news conference at the John A. Wilson Building.
Installing the $1,350 devices in every D.C. building would cost upward of $2.5 million.
Joining Thomas at the news conference was Bo Kimble, 41, longtime friend and teammate of the late basketball star Hank Gathers. Gathers, who played with Kimble in high school and for Loyola Marymount University, collapsed and died during the first half of a game against the University of Portland on March 4, 1990.
“It’s just as important as a fire extinguisher and a smoke detector,” said Kimble, who was recently trained in CPR. “It’s that important.”
It is unfortunate that it “takes a death to get us to move more quickly in putting AEDs in public places,” said Rachel Moyer, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., whose 15-year-old son Greg died seven years ago of a heart attack while playing basketball.
Thomas also announced that he will be the first council member to have a defibrillator in his office.
“I know my colleagues will be happy,” he said. “If something happens, they know where to go: Room 107 in the Wilson Building.”
-DC Examiner