Boston Public Schools to purchase Cardiac Science Powerheart G5 AEDs

Cardiac Science announced today that the Boston Public Schools will purchase Powerheart^® G5 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to update and expand the district’s AED program covering school buildings and school sports.

The Powerheart G5 is the first AED to combine automatic shock delivery, dual-language rescue prompting, variable escalating energy, and rapid shock times. The device enables first-time users as well as professional rescuers to respond to a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) incident.

The school district will use the new AEDs to replace outdated units and to provide additional AEDs for its 125 schools, some of which have multiple buildings. The Boston Public Schools currently serves more than 56,000 students in pre-kindergarten through Grade 12.

“The safety of our students and staff in the Boston Public Schools is always our top priority,” said Richard Deraney, a manager in the school district’s Office of Safety Services. “We went with Cardiac Science because the Powerheart G5 AED is a good product. They’re fully automatic, and easy to use in an emergency. We know because we have used them.”

Massachusetts recently passed a law that mandates AEDs in schools. Public and private schools will be required to have AEDs in place along with trained personnel by July 2018. Even prior to the law’s passage, the Boston Public Schools had implemented a Powerheart AED program that saved a life.

Three years ago, students, administrators and a nurse at Boston’s John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science used a Powerheart AED to help save the life of a teacher who had collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest in the classroom.

“The students made the 911 call, started CPR, and sent someone for the AED,” Deraney said. Eventually, the teacher was revived and was then transported to a nearby hospital.

“Powerheart AEDs are designed to make it as easy as possible to come to the aid of a sudden cardiac arrest victim,” said Ed Kennedy, Vice-President, Americas, Cardiac Science. “We are proud that the Boston Public Schools has chosen Powerheart G5 AEDs to help protect people in their buildings and on their playing fields.”

The Boston Public Schools joins several school systems throughout the country using Powerheart AEDs to help protect students, staff and visitors from the threat of sudden cardiac arrest.