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Common Objections to
School AED Programs
(with some possible answers)
Kids Don’t Have Heart Attacks.
We don’t need them.
- True but kids may suffer cardiac arrest usually
leading to death. Unfortunately, you probably won’t have to look too
far to find the name of a young person who died on school property from
cardiac problems.
- What about the teachers, administrators,
custodians, office staff, cafeteria workers, and parents who frequent
the school? AEDs protect them as well as the students.
They are not safe.
What if one of the kids shocks another kid?
- Even if one student allowed another student to put
the electrodes on him, the AED would not allow a shock to be
administered. Only hearts that require a shock can be shocked.
The AED wouldn’t last a week.
Someone would steal it.
- This could happen but it is very unlikely. AED
cabinets can be purchased that sound an alarm when opened.
- How many fire extinguishers are stolen each year?
There is no reason to believe the theft of AEDs would be any greater.
- Malls and airports have deployed AEDs for years
without significant loss form theft.
They are difficult to
maintain.
- Electrodes and batteries need to be replaced
periodically. The AED conducts a self-test every day or week and
signals when the battery is low or a problem is detected.
- The AED needs to be inspected regularly to make
sure no alarm signal is present and that the batteries and electrodes
are present and within their expiration date.
They will scare the students
and their parents.
- On the contrary. If AEDs are explained to the
students, they will understand their purpose.
- As they are placed in more airports, malls and
places of worship, parents will be delighted that AEDs are placed in
their children’s’ schools.
They are great but too
expensive.
- If your group has figured out how to get the funds
to acquire the AEDs, this objection melts away.
- Consider some of the purchases that have been made
in the school system and compare the value and cost of those purchases
with the cost of an AED.
- When all else fails, the question that usually
blasts away remaining resistance is “What value would you put on a
child’s life?”
What if we need to use it and
the cardiac arrest victim dies anyway?
- From the liability perspective, schools are
probably further ahead by having AEDs even if they don’t save a life
than to not have them at all.
- Even in cases where a person’s life is not saved
after an AED is used, the family has a greater sense of closure. They
do not spend the rest of their lives wondering whether an AED might have
saved their loved one’s life.
If we get one, I want it
locked in the nurse’s office.
This objection usually means one of two
things: That someone with medical training is needed to use the AED or
that people who are not members of the faculty or staff should not have
access to it.
- The AED is of no value if it is locked up when the school is
being used. When people are using the facility, the AED needs to be easily
accessible.
- School nurses are often not on duty during concerts,
athletic events, or other activities that take place at night.
- AEDs are engineered specifically so that you don’t need
medical training to use them.
- Members of the general public may very well be more
experienced in performing CPR and using the AED than school faculty or
staff. By locking the AED in a room you eliminate the possibility that a
member of the public can serve as a rescuer.
- Check your state’s Good Samaritan laws. The district will
doubtless be protected from liability if a trained member of the general
public uses the school’s AED on school property.
Our teachers will never
agree to be trained.
- If the school has designated an emergency response
team, it will be necessary for members of that team to be trained.
Teachers should be given the option and it is usually a pleasant
surprise how many of them volunteer. The skills that are taught in the
Heartsaver AED course are skills that teachers may wish to learn to
better protect their loved ones away from the school environment.
- Faculty members who do not wish to learn to
perform CPR and use the AED may still agree to call 911, help direct the
ambulance to the scene of collapse, or assist with crowd control.
- The key is to make such training voluntary-people
should not be forced to enroll in the classes.
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