Nov 21, 2005
The Eugene School District 4J and Springfield School District contracted with MEDIC FIRST AID International, Inc. to provide Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and implementation programs for their schools.
The Springfield school district will be placing nine AEDs in various school buildings, such as the administration building, the transportation/maintenance center, and at both high schools. Michael Screen, Risk Manager for the Springfield school district said, “We decided to implement an AED program because of reports in the news of student athletes having been saved [by] the availability and application of an AED. We have 11,000 plus students and over 1,400 employees, and our schools serve as meeting places for community groups. Studies have shown that…the risk of SCA [sudden cardiac arrest]…rises with age and with the number of participants at events.”
The Eugene School District will be placing 17 AEDs in their schools. "AEDs are becoming a standard of first-aid in public places," said David Brewer, risk manager for the Eugene School District. "Our high schools, with all of our sporting events, dances and other functions, are no different and would benefit from the equipment in the same way." Brewer said that it was his goal to put two AEDs in each high school and one in each middle school, as well as to add AED training to the mandatory first-aid training of educators in the Eugene School District.
Over the past several years, MEDIC FIRST AID has partnered with several other school districts across the nation, including the Birchwood School District in Wisconsin, the Lyle School District in Washington, and the El Tejon Unified School District in California.
