Summer schooler arrives with his own AED

Thursday July 9, 2009

During the summer I work as a nurse in one of the city's summer school programs for children with special needs, so I am used to children arriving at school with medical equipment. However, yesterday a summer schooler came with an unusual piece of equipment--his own AED (automated external defibrillator). An AED is used in an emergency to change an abnormal, life-threatening heart rhythm into a normal rhythm using an electric shock.

I learned that the child has Timothy syndrome, a genetic disorder that can cause potentially fatal heart rhythm disturbances. The syndrome also includes heart defects; this child had a VSD (ventricular septal defect) and a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), both of which have been repaired.

The child's IEP (Individualized Education Plan) requires that the school staff who work with him be trained in CPR and in how to use the AED. He also has a monitor who rides on the school bus with him who has this training as well. I hope we'll never need to use the training, but if so, we are prepared.