AED School Program at Its Best: Atlanta Public Schools' Partnership With Cardiac Science

/PRNewswire/ -- Cardiac Science Corporation (NASDAQ:CSCX) , a global leader in automated external defibrillator (AED) and diagnostic cardiac monitoring devices, announced the expansion of the largest AED deployment of any school system in Georgia with 195 Powerheart AED G3 devices from Cardiac Science.

The Atlanta Public School AED program started with 100 Cardiac Science AEDs in 2007 and has grown; now protecting 102 locations with more than 1,100 trained responders. "In Atlanta Public Schools, we not only want to ensure every student learns at high levels; we want to ensure every student is safe," said Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall.

"The district-wide deployment of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and trained on-staff first responders is a meaningful component of our emergency preparedness," Hall added. "Parents can take comfort in this security measure, driven by our own on-the-ground team of security professionals with help from leading health care experts in the community."

Often a school AED program is led by school nurses or the athletic department. In this case, the Fulton County Public Schools' Police Department and its Deputy Chief Marquenta A. Sands worked with distributor School Health Corporation and Cardiac Science Corporation to drive AED adoption.

Dave Marver, Cardiac Science president and chief executive officer, said, "We've become very good at helping major school systems with their AED programs. In addition to Atlanta, we help protect young people at large school systems in Houston, Miami, Tampa, San Diego, and throughout Ohio, New York, and Texas, which have state mandates requiring AED placement in schools. We're pleased to have partnered with School Health, Children's Healthcare, and the AHA to make this happen."

Chief Sands explained, "We need to protect our young people - and sudden cardiac arrest is a real threat to their safety. According to the American Heart Association, approximately 7,000 young people will die a sudden cardiac death this year alone. With our AED school program, we're hoping to lower that tragic toll."

Marver added, "Relatively few metropolitan public school systems in the US have formal AED programs, despite the growing number of legal mandates that protect schoolchildren against sudden cardiac arrest. We've chosen to focus on the school AED market with the intent that children everywhere would have the level of safety now provided in Atlanta."

"My deep thanks to Cardiac Science, Children's Healthcare, School Health, and the AHA for their support. We far exceeded the acceptance, visibility, and scope of our initial goals," said Chief Sands. "Ten percent of the staff is trained at each school and several schools voluntarily committed to having 100 percent of the staff trained."

Atlanta Public Schools also created a dedicated training facility available to people in the Atlanta community to learn CPR and AED use at no charge. And the school AED program is compliant with civil immunity requirements afforded by Georgia's Good Samaritan law for AED use.

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City of Atlanta Wins Playful City USA for the Third Consecutive Year

For the third consecutive year, KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated to bringing play back into children’s lives, has named the City of Atlanta a Playful City USA community.

The City of Atlanta is one of 93 communities across the nation that has taken innovative approaches to make play a priority and ensure that children have the time and space they need to play. Despite the down economy, the City of Atlanta supports its communities in building and maintaining play spaces and developing programming to meet the needs of the community.

“This is an honor for the City of Atlanta to be recognized three years in row for our dedication to play, “says the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Commissioner Dianne Harnell Cohen. “We are proud to provide the residents and visitors play spaces to enjoy throughout the City of Atlanta.”

The Atlanta Taskforce on Play (ATOP) was instrumental in working with City of Atlanta in demonstrating creative commitments to the cause of play. “The freedom to play in a beautiful, safe, fun, clean, creative environment is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children,” says ATOP Founder Cynthia Gentry.

The City of Atlanta and ATOP will host the City of Atlanta’s second annual Great Atlanta PLAY DAY on September 26, 2009; a day where people will turn off their TVs, shut down their computers and go outside to play.
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