When Emily Halvorson, 8, starts school Monday at Lincoln Prairie Elementary School in Lake in the Hills, she will leave her personal defibrillator behind. Community Unit School District 300 officials have promised her parents that the district’s first defibrillator will be on hand when the 3rd grader arrives.
Emily has long QT syndrome, an irregular heartbeat that can cause cardiac arrest during intense physical activity or emotional stress.
For the last year, her parents, Mike and Sue–Sue has the condition as well–have been asking the school district to get a defibrillator just in case.
“We cannot believe the school district doesn’t have them,” Sue Halvorson told school board members Monday night. “Just about every public building has them.”
Lincoln Prairie will be the first school in the district to get a defibrillator, which costs $1,600 to $2,500.
Supt. Kenneth Arndt said state law requires all public buildings to have defibrillators by July 2005. The district has delayed getting them while administrators determine how many to buy, the best way to buy them and how to train staff to use them. The school district expects to spend about $200,000 to outfit its 23 buildings.
