If I had my way, all schools should be equipped with a defibrillator. Although sudden death in young people is rare, it does occur and when it does occur, it destroys lives and costs many, many life years. The terminal heart rhythm disturbance in individuals who die is ventricular fibrillation. There is only one treatment for ventricular fibrillation and that is prompt defibrillation. So it makes sense that if a school has a defibrillator, there is a chance that a life may be saved.
However, there are logistical problems. There are several questions, for example – who is going to learn how to use the defibrillator, where will the defibrillator be kept, how do we contact the individual that can use the defibrillator, who will service the defibrillator? Once we have got all of this in order or some sort of protocol that allows schools to tick all the right boxes, then I do feel it's important that every school does have a defibrillator, in fact I'm pushing for our children's school to have a defibrillator of their own.
