NORWALK -- Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) will be in place in all of Norwalk Public Schools buildings when classes resume next week, according to officials.
"The defibrillators have arrived. Cabinets are being mounted in each of the schools this week," said Brenda Wilcox Williams, Norwalk Public Schools communications officer. "There will be one (defibrillator) in every school and there will be two in the high schools, plus one portable for the high school athletic departments."
An AED is a computerized device that analyzes the heart rhythm and prompts a rescuer to deliver an electrical shock if needed. They are used to treat sudden cardiac arrest. When AEDs are used in conjunction with CPR, they can increase survival rates between 50 and 80 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Wilcox Williams said the defibrillators will be mounted and ready for use in Norwalk Public Schools buildings by the start of classes next week. School staff will be trained on their use in September.
"They are easy to use but we will have a professional trainer training staff for each school," Wilcox Williams said. "This is life-saving equipment that is very easy to use and it makes sense to have it in buildings that are frequently used by the public as well as by students on a daily basis."
Norwalk Fire Department staff assisted in the choice of defibrillators for the schools. The department advised the school district to purchase models used by the Fire Department and Norwalk Hospital -- for continuity purposes, according to the Fire Department.
Erin E. Herring, assistant city clerk, said she has fought for seven years to have defibrillators placed in each of the city's schools as is now required by law with some exceptions. She welcomes their arrival and credited Norwalk Public Schools Superintendent Manuel J. Rivera, Mayor Harry W. Rilling and Common Council's Health, Welfare and Public Safety Committee for supporting their purchase.
"We were going to be liable if we didn't have them," Herring said. "The schools are used for more than just kids -- afterschool, grandparents day, book fairs, plays concerts -- and (having a defibrillator available) can mean the difference between life and death, not just for a child but for everybody."