Defibrillators will remain at Lodi Unified schools

Lodi Unified has decided not to pull automatic electronic defibrillators out of the district's four high schools.

"They're going to stay where they're at," Chief Business Official Doug Barge said Tuesday after receiving direction from the superintendent.

Superintendent Cathy Nichols-Washer directed the district to essentially take no action regarding the defibrillators, he said.

The issue was not required to go before the school board. In March, in light of a $400,000 settlement with a former student who was resuscitated after suffering cardiac arrest during physical education class, Barge planned to take a proposal before the board to remove the machines at the recommendation of the district's liability insurance.

Schools are not required to have them on site, and doing so may create a liability, he said at the time.

While attending Lodi High in 2005, student Adam Kloose collapsed before a game of dodge ball during his physical education class. Teachers performed CPR and used the hand-held defibrillator, which emits an electric shock to revive a stopped heart. But it failed to work.

The student was ultimately resuscitated by paramedics with their own defibrillator and taken to the hospital, where it was ultimately determined that he suffered a brain injury.

Defibrillator fallout timeline

December 2005: After collapsing during physical education class, the hand-held device is used on Lodi High student Adam Kloose, but fails.

February 2009: Lodi Unified School District reaches a $400,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by Kloose, whose attorney claims the machine was not properly maintained.

April 2009: At the direction of Chief Business Official Doug Barge, the decision to pull them from the district's four high school campuses is expected to go before the board. It is ultimately decided to keep them in place so no board decision is required.

News-Sentinel staff

The settlement agreement reached with the district in February included no admission of liability by the district, although Kloose's attorney, R.J. Waldsmith, has said that an expired battery inside the machine caused it to malfunction.

District officials won't discuss if they have changed any policies regarding the machines because of the settlement.

The district's decision to keep the machines on campus and available was welcome news to cardiac survivors like Jack Grogan.

When the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association — on which Grogan serves as a board member — heard of the possibility that the district was going to remove defibrillators from local schools, they mounted a letter-writing campaign against school board trustees.

"I wrote a letter to the board that they personally would have to bear the responsibility if they pulled the machines and someone died at one of their schools," Grogan said. "That would have been with them long after they had left the school board."

Grogan, who lives in San Jose, is good friends with Jim Baum, of Lodi, and was recently in town to present an award to Police Lt. Steve Carillo, who saved a man's life using an AED. Baum, who credits a defibrillator with saving his life while on vacation in Mexico in 2003, now has the machines at his local residence, as well as at his vacation homes.

According to the American Heart Association, 166,000 people die each year from sudden cardiac arrest. It is the same ailment that TV pitchman Billy Mays is believed to have died from earlier this week.

Grogan was prepared to come to Lodi with fellow survivors to testify against the possible removal. However, he received a phone call at the last minute stating that the issue would not be on a board agenda.

"We were thrilled," said Grogan, who credits the use of an AED in an airport nearly seven years ago in saving his life when he went into cardiac arrest.

Waldsmith, however, has said the problem lies not with having the AEDs, but with the management by the district. Further, he, like Grogan, feels the cost of maintaining them is worth every cent when a device is needed to save a life.

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Lodian wrote on Jul 3, 2009 8:01 PM:

" If a school (district) cannot change a battery then why are they in charge of educationg our children? "

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miracle wrote on Jul 2, 2009 9:38 AM:

" I was shocked back to life 4 times after a sudden heart attack. They are not expensive to maintain and the maintenance does not require rocket science knowledge. Any employee can be trained to use the device. They will not work unless the heart needs to be shocked. All public places, including the elementary schools, need to have defibrillators because the paramedics will not always be able to arrive in time to save a person or prevent brain damage. "

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Lodian wrote on Jul 1, 2009 3:44 PM:

" This is good news. Keeping these defibrillators is the right thing to do. "

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dogs4you wrote on Jul 1, 2009 1:56 PM:

" I`ll take a trained professional any day, even though it might take a minute to get on scene rather that someone that has not been trained to administer the preceedure correctly. Unless all students and teachers know what to do it could do more damage than good. The rule of thumb is, you have about 3 minutes to start CPR and rescue breathing, with a fire station directly across from Tokay High, and since Tokay is the only school with a pool, getting to a person who is down would not take long. Unlike Rescue 911, the old TV program with William Shatner that shows everyone recovering from trama, the odds of people coming back from major trama are very low. Defibrillators might work better for zaping flys, though the Big O did`t use one to get that "suck`a". Nice words coming from the President of the United States. He must remember he`s not with his crew on a street corner anymore. "

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Lou wrote on Jul 1, 2009 11:56 AM:

" Hey, what happened to Odie Douglas? I thought he was the "acting" superintendent? If anyone thinks that Nichols-Washer directed Barge to keep the jumper cables handy "because it was the right and good thing to do" ....

If you believe that, I hear Bernie Madoff is starting a new fund. The District was probably forced to do so by their insurance carrier. Does anyone have an idea what this District pays out to it's attorneys, its insurance carrier(s) or the plaintiff's who win most of the time?

Answer: Millions Why: The administrators don't know how to change batteries or make sure a building is cleared when a fire alarm goes off. It's never been just about what we pay these folks, it's about what they cost us in negligence. 41 law suits and going up everyday. LUSD is the plaintiff bar's wet-dream. You can't win a negligence law suit unless you can prove the elements of negligence, yes? "

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Lodiken wrote on Jul 1, 2009 8:08 AM:

" How dificult is it to check the battery on a defibrillator? Assign it to the student government at your school and have the janitor check them once a month as a back up. Or spend thousands of dollars on a third party to do it for you... I bet I know which one the government will pick. "

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wtf wrote on Jul 1, 2009 7:41 AM:

" Cogito.....LOL! Good one! "

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Cogito wrote on Jul 1, 2009 7:34 AM:

" This is a shocking decision, absolutely shocking. "CLEAR" "

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t jefferson wrote on Jul 1, 2009 6:58 AM:

" Smoot I am glad that you want to take the liability on yourself to try to help others. OTH I think this is a poor decision on the part of the LUSD. These are just liability devices waiting to happen. But hey Personal Injury lawyers need new shoes too.
The schools are not responsible for this level of care and this provides an unnecessary level of risk in the system. Why is this state broke, it is because of things like this. "

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Smoot wrote on Jul 1, 2009 2:56 AM:

" Good for the Superintendent! The opportunity to save a life is well worth any potential risk. I carry an AED in my car - it's a simple matter to check the battery and only required by the mfr ONCE A YEAR! Now she needs to hold her staff accountable for regular inspections of the devices. Score "Reason" 1 "Lawyers" 0 "

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