Preventing the deaths of children suffering cardiac arrest is the goal of a School District 43 plan to place Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in all 67 Tri-City public schools.
At a board of education meeting tonight, SD43 is expected to announce it will be purchasing the portable electronic devices, which administer a life-saving shock in the event a heart stops beating.
At about $1,200 for each AED, the investment will be about $80,000, the school district has confirmed.
A spokesman for Burnaby-based MediQuest Technologies Inc. which is providing the equipment, said the district will also be providing training and maintenance for the devices as part of its school emergency measures.
"They are being proactive to make sure they equip all schools the same," Chris Metcalf said.
At the board meeting Tuesday, Dr. Shubhayan Santani, chief of cardiac pacing at BC Children's Hospital, will brief the board on the need to have these devices place in all schools and public facilities in B.C.
SD43 is the first school district in the province to commit to placing AEDs in all schools to prevent the death of children suffering from sudden cardiac arrest.
