and By JOHN MUNFORD

[email protected]

The sudden

death last week of a Fayetteville youth after being hit in the chest by

a pitched baseball has raised awareness of the need for CPR training and

cardio rescue equipment throughout the area's recreation centers and playing

fields.

Peachtree City

may be one step ahead of the game, however, because of an effort already

underway to outfit the city with defibrillators, which deliver an electric

shock to a heart in distress.

An e-mail circulating

earlier this week criticized rescue personnel for not using the device

on 13-year-old John Ashmore after he collapsed during a game at Kiwanis

Park on May 9. Parademics performed CPR on him to try to restore his breathing

and have said he initially showed no signs to indicate his heart needed

shocking.

Due to the

nature of the boy's injury, medical experts were reluctant to say whether

use of the defibrillator could have saved his life.

Clearly, though,

they save many lives and are becoming quite popular in any place where

large numbers of folks gather including civic buildings, churches and

schools.

Melinda Berry-Dreisbach,

public information officer for the Fayette County school district, said

just two of the county's campuses are equipped with the machines now,

but that should change.

Whitewater

Middle School was the first to get one, followed recently by Fayette County

High. The individual school PTOs raised the money to equip their clinics

with the defibrillators, which can start at around $1,000 on the low-end

and go up to the tens of thousands of dollars for the most advanced models

used in hospitals.

Berry-Dreisbach

said district administrators have urged each of the schools' PTOs to make

the machines a funding priority, and several more are expected to have

them with faculty trained to use them by next school year.

Randy Gaddo,

director of leisure services for Peachtree City, said nearly all of the

city's main recreation facilities have the machines on site, and each

of the city's fire stations is equipped as well.

He likened

the machines to an insurance policy.

"It's

a potential life saver," he said. "You have it there and you

make sure it's working because, boy, when you need it, it can make a difference."

The city's

goal, said Gaddo, is to eventually have a defibrillator in every city

facility. "They are foolproof, very easy to use," he said, adding

that the fire department regularly gives training sessions on the technique,

which lasts about 30 minutes.

Like Fayette

County and Fayetteville, the Peachtree City Fire and Rescue Department

doesn't routinely have ambulances on hand for youth sporting events. But

there are special occasions where a member of the department might be

on hand to serve as a "first responder," said Fire Chief Stony

Lohr.

Staffers also

conduct spot checks of some events to determine the level and intensity

of activity, Lohr noted.

"One of

the difficulties with the sports events is that there are so many and

they often last for hours or days," Lohr said. "We attempt to

leave the ambulances and apparatus centrally located where they can respond

the most quickly to the greatest number of people."

Despite the

recent tragedy, Lohr said he feels ball games are safer now than they've

ever been. The most serious injury the department has responded to were

two soccer players whose heads collided during a game, the chief said.

"The accidents

that we have responded to at the sports fields have been things like twisted,

sprained or broken arms or legs from sliding, running into each other

or kicking each other," Lohr said, noting that the "kicking"

calls come from soccer games.

While all the

department's vehicles have an Automatic External Defibrillator or the

similar Life Pak, these other public and private facilities in Peachtree

City have AEDs on hand for cardiac emergencies:

Kedron Athletic

Center.

The City Hall

and Library complex.

The Gathering

Place and Recreation Department.

The Peachtree

City Police Department and in all patrol cars.

NCR Corporation.

Panasonic

(two devices).

Hoshizaki

(two devices).

Christ Our

Shepard Lutheran Church.

Peachtree

City Methodist Church.

Two other churches

may soon be getting AEDs also, Lohr said: Braelinn Baptist Church and

Holy Trinity Catholic Church.