HUBBARD School requests heart devices

The principal is looking to buy two more heart defibrillators.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HUBBARD -- Gene Kelly is striving to get automatic external defibrillators.
In fact, the Hubbard High School principal would like to see them in all Trumbull County school buildings.
In what he believes is a first in the area, Kelly has solicited funds to buy two of the devices.
In Summit County, the American Heart Association's goal is to put AEDs in 59 school buildings.
In two weeks, a $2,400 AED will be put in the high school and a $3,000 unit in the community pool.
As soon as he can raise the money, Kelly said Thursday, others will be purchased for the middle and elementary buildings.
What they do: The devices are generally used in emergency situations to deliver an electric shock to the heart.
Kelly began collecting money for the project last spring.
He got the idea while he and his wife were at an American Heart Association fund-raiser. Both their fathers died of heart disease.
"It seems to me this is something I should have in every school," Kelly recalled saying.
"It's been a campaign of education," Kelly said of soliciting money from individuals and organizations.
The equipment will be used to help treat students and also can prove valuable if a spectator suffers a heart attack at a Hubbard game, Kelly said.
Certified trainers: Mary Honard, athletic trainer, and Greg Filipsky, aquatics director, are certified to train others on an AED's operation.
Administrators and secretaries will be trained first, Kelly explained, and then coaches as their teams open practice for their particular sports.
During the day, the AED in the high school will be kept in the nursing office. The nurse is certified to operate it.
After school, Honard will carry it in her golf cart as she goes to various team practices. She can be contacted quickly because she carries a cell phone.
Students will also be exposed to its use.
Kelly said use of the device will be taught in health classes as part of CPR training. If they want, students can become certified to use an AED.
Easy to use: They are relatively easy to operate, Kelly said. To assure nobody is harmed by its use, the device won't discharge a shock if it senses a heartbeat in the patient.
Contributing to the Hubbard program so far are Humility of Mary Health Partners, Hubbard Gridiron Club, Hello Brothers and Dr. Benjamin Hayek of Primary Health Care Associates.
The athletic department raised money for the purchases by teaching CPR to those outside the district for a fee.
yovich@vindy.com