Granger Receives Donations to Purchase AED/Defibrillators!!!
by Karena Weichmann
November 28, 2006
At the beginning of the year, Granger ISD purchased one AED for the school and started a fundraising campaign for more AED/Defibrillators so that one always stays on campus and others could travel to off campus sporting events, UIL events, and any other school sponsored field trip. This week Granger ISD received two AED/Defibrillators from Del and Janis Ware, whose grandchildren are involved in numerous activities on Granger ISD’s campus. “With all the recent publicity surrounding Matt Nader’s near death experience and the recent UIL ruling mandating AED on campus by next school year, I wanted to ensure the safety of all the children at Granger ISD.”
It is important that schools have access to a defibrillator because Sudden Cardiac Arrest (massive heart attack) can STRIKE ANYONE: students, faculty, or visitors. Statistically, 450,000 people a year in the US die from Sudden Cardiac Arrest and even a healthy person can suffer cardiac arrest without warning. The ONLY treatment for cardiac arrest is a defibrillation shock, which is an electrical pulse through the heart that restores a normal heart rhythm. It is important to have an AED close at hand because there is a very good chance that Emergency Medical Services (EMS) cannot respond fast enough to save someone in cardiac arrest. Every minute of delaying defibrillation can decrease the survival rate by 10%. The national average response time for EMS is 10-12 minutes.
Thanks to donations from Parent Teacher Organization, fundraising from football games, and a very sizeable donation from Mrs. Joeann (Pustejovsky) Jackson which offset the cost of one of the defibrillators and paid for the second defibrillator Granger ISD campus will now have a total of five AED/Defibrillators available. This will allow Granger ISD to have access to a defibrillator on campus in both buildings and also have one allocated for boy’s athletics, girls athletics, and a separate one for UIL events and other school sponsored field trips. “I think it is a wise thing to have AED/Defibrillators on campus listening to the news about how they have saved lives and recently one had to be used on me and thankfully it got me back on my feet.” said Mrs. Joeann Jackson when asked what made her decide to donate to the school. She also has three grandchildren that attend the school and wanted to make the AED available to the students of Granger ISD. Granger ISD wants to express our gratitude for the generosity of Del and Janis Ware, Mrs. Joeann Jackson, the Parent Teacher Organization, and members of the community for their donations.
