DENVER — This week, Denver Public Schools began installing 179 defibrillators for the treatment of sudden cardiac arrest — thanks to the Save a Life Denver program. Every school will have at least one, and large schools with multiple buildings, such as the Evie Garrett Dennis Campus, will receive up to four, said DPS spokeswoman Kristy Armstrong.
Between now and the end of the school year, installation and training of several staff members will take place at each school, major athletic facility and the administration building. The devices, called automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, retail for about $2,000 each, but they won't cost DPS anything. A three-year, $3 million grant from an anonymous local donor funds several American Red Cross Mile High Chapter preparedness programs, including Save a Life Denver, a joint effort with Denver Health and Philips Healthcare.Philips provides its HeartStart FRx Defibrillators at a 47 percent discount. The Red Cross is discounting training costs for DPS.
Defibrillation with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (chest compressions) is the definitive treatment for sudden cardiac arrest, which causes 300,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the Red Cross.
"Sudden cardiac arrest strikes people of all ages," Superintendent Tom Boasberg said during Thursday morning's kick-off event at George Washington High School. Instructors trained more than 100 students and staff to perform hands-only CPR and use a defibrillator.
Metro-area school officials know from firsthand experience the value of AEDs, Armstrong said. In 2008, Lyndsay Hayden was resuscitated by the machine after collapsing in her Standley Lake High School classroom. Hayden was at Thursday's event. Standley Lake's AED was donated to the Jefferson County school through the Daniel J. Lunger Memorial Fund, named for a 16-year-old student athlete at the school who had died from cardiac arrest in 2006. His father, Howard Lunger, started the fund to save young people's lives.
Save a Life Denver has placed more than 600 AEDs across the state. They are available at no cost to eligible businesses and institutions. The program's first client was the Denver Chamber of Commerce. The University of Denver is getting 80 units. TIAA CREF and The Brown Palace are each installing more than 20 units.
For more about the program, go tosavealifedenver.org.
SOURCE: The Denver Post