Thanks to Fayette Community

Hospital, all of Fayette County's high schools are now equipped with

an automated external defibrillator, or AED, the compact life-saving device

that can mean the difference between life and death to a victim of cardiac

arrest.

In a ceremony on Dec. 11, hospital

officials along with Superintendent John DeCotis presented AEDs to the

principals of McIntosh, Sandy Creek, Starr's Mill and Whitewater

high schools.

Fayette County High already

had one of the compact devices, which can cost several thousand dollars,

paid for by a booster organization last year.

The LaFayette Educational Center

wasn't forgotten, either. At the Dec. 15 school board meeting, Thomas

Stephens, representing the Fayette County Kiwanis Club, presented an AED

to the Alternative High/Fayette County Evening High School campus, paid

for by the service club.

"We deeply appreciate

this, thank you," DeCotis told a crowed gathered for the hospital's

presentation, pointing out that the county's high school campuses

serve more than just teenage students.

"Our high schools are

always open," DeCotis said. "Churches use them, the community

uses them. We hope that we never have a need to use this, but it is good

to know that they are available should a situation arise where someone

requires defibrillation."

Dr. Anthony Lawson of the FCH

Medical Executive Committee said his staff made it a goal to see one of

the portable AEDs placed on each high school campus.

"Knowing how to respond

in an emergency is vital, and the AEDs will provide an early response

until EMS personnel arrive," Lawson said.

That's vital, said Allen

McCullough, deputy chief of Fayette County Fire and Rescue, because with

each passing minute a cardiac patient goes without a heart beat, the chance

of survival declines another 10 percent.

"A portable AED is much

like a fire extinguisher," said McCullough. "Say you have a

house fire and you attack it with a fire extinguisher. You probably aren't

going to put the fire out with that, but you may have kept it from spreading

and getting worse."

An AED is used to administer

an electric shock through the chest wall to the heart. The device has

built-in computers that assess the victim's heart rhythm, judges

whether defibrillation is needed and then administers the shock. Audible

and visual prompts guide the user through the process.

The bright industrial-yellow

AED units will hang on a wall near the front office of each of the schools,

accessible to the general public no matter the time of day or event taking

place.

Most AEDs are designed to be

used by non-medical people such as police, firefighters, flight attendants,

and others who have been properly trained. But because the computer does

most of the work, any adult should be able to use the device, as well

as some students.

"AEDs may be used to treat

previously undiagnosed cardiac conditions that can cause heart arrhythmia's

during the stress of competitive athletics," said Lawson. "Fayette

County high schools are often used for community-wide events as well as

school based activities. These AEDs are being placed to benefit the entire

community."

The Fayette County Department

of Fire and Emergency Services is leading the partnership to standardize

a county-wide AED program and has made the commitment to support the training

of key personnel in the schools to use the equipment. Currently Fayette

County is implementing the placement of AEDs throughout county buildings

and facilities.

In 1985 the Fayette County

Department of Fire and Emergency Services was the first in Georgia to

implement the use of AEDs in their response vehicles. Fayette County law

enforcement officers began to carry automatic external defibrillators

in their cars after the County was one of 10 communities nationwide to

receive grants for the devices.

In 2000, Peachtree City purchased

three automated external defibrillators to be placed in its government

buildings. It was the first metro Atlanta municipal government to deploy

defibrillators.