AED in schools?
A study out of Seattle says putting automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in every school may not be worth the cost. The Seattle Times says the survey of emergency response to schools in the Seattle area over 16 years found that students suffered cardiac arrests only 12 times and a third of these children had known heart problems. The research, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, suggests putting AEDs in high schools or pinpointing schools where students and staff have medical problems. Most of the cardiac arrests at schools involved adults, and they occurred much more often in high schools and middle schools than elementary schools.
A defibrillator costs an average of $1,000 to $3,000, not including the cost to train school staff.
