Every Houston Independent School District campus will soon be equipped with an automated external defibrillator. The device is used to shock a heart and restore its normal beating rhythm.
The school board is expected to accept 300 donated defibrillators from the Texas Arrhythmia Institute next week. The total value is about $650,000. The campuses need to send their nurses and other key personnel to training sessions beginning next month.
In the past few years, several student athletes have died suddenly of cardiac arrest, according to Dr. Nadim Nasir Jr., a cardiologist and senior researcher for the Houston-based Texas Arrhythmia Institute. The device’s life-saving potential can be important not only for students, but also for staff members and visitors.
Officials believe the donation will make HISD the largest American school district to outfit all of its schools with defibrillators.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 at 10:08 pm and is filed under AED News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.