(Throughout the school year, distinguished members of the administrative staff contribute columns to this space. This week's column is by Dr. Mira Martincich, Director of Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation.)

Each year approximately 220,000 people die from sudden cardiac arrest. The vast majority of these deaths are caused by the initiation of an abnormal heart rhythm called "ventricular fibrillation," a chaotic heart rhythm that results in loss of circulation and oxygen delivery to body tissues. The only effective treatment to reverse ventricular defibrillation to a normal heart rhythm is defibrillation, an electric shock to the heart.

Defibrillation must be provided early; survival declines 7- 10 percent for each minute without it. The hope for increasing the survival rate rests with strategies that will deliver defibrillation early: prompt recognition of the emergency and early access to 911, early administration of rescue breathing and chest compression (CPR), early defibrillation with an automated external defibrillator (AED), and the early advanced care provided by EMS personnel.

New York State has now mandated that many public facilities, including all schools, have AED's available for emergencies and that individuals be trained in their use.

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are computerized instruments that interpret a victim's heart rhythm, differentiate rhythms that require a shock from normal rhythms, and guide a rescuer through the procedure of shocking a victim by the use of voice messages and visual prompts. AEDs are simple to operate, and their use by lay trained rescuers is now permitted in all 50 states. Good Samaritan laws protect the rescuer, owners of the device, and the agencies who oversee their use.

The Roslyn school district has purchased 11 units for strategic placement in all five schools, the administration building, the maintenance building, and the athletic field house. Although schools have relatively young populations, they contain many adults, including teachers, administrators, parents, and thousands of adult visitors each year. Athletic events, theatrical productions, concerts and ceremonies attract large numbers of visitors to our schools. The best sites for the placement of AEDs are places where the probability of cardiac arrests are higher. For this reason, public schools join airports, malls, and stadiums as appropriate locations.

The drive to place AEDs in the schools was initiated in large part by the family of a 14-year-old boy from Northport, Long Island who blocked a routine lacrosse shot to his chest and died of "commotio cordis" in March 2000. Commotio cordis is a relatively uncommon episode of ventricular fibrillation induced by a sudden, blunt trauma to the chest at a precise millisecond of the heart's electrical cycle. Although rescuers at the scene administered CPR to the boy, defibrillation was not available for 12 minutes following his collapse. His family's efforts convinced the New York State legislature to require community-based defibrillation programs in the schools so that victims of sudden cardiac arrest could have the greatest chance for survival. The law went into effect as of Dec. 1, 2002.

In preparation for the implementation of the AEDs, all Roslyn coaches and recreation leaders have been trained in the use of defibrillators for the past two years. From November 2002 to January 2003, an additional 100 Roslyn staff members have or will be trained in CPR and AED. Our goal is to assure that there are many trained people available, willing and able to respond to cardiac emergencies and use the AEDs available in our buildings. Protocols have been established to call 911 and activate the CPR-AED system, coordinate the resources in our buildings, and follow-up on emergencies. Regular drills will assure that the system is working properly and that rescuers retain key lifesaving skills. The willing collaboration of the Roslyn fire departments and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish hospital as our Emergency Health Care providers has been an integral and valued component of the Roslyn Schools' Public Access Defibrillation plan.

Perhaps the most important skill an individual can possess is the ability to save a human life. While we hope that we never need to use an AED in our schools, there is great comfort in knowing that they are available to serve our students, staff and community.

(In many communities, individuals, organizations and companies have made contributions to purchase defibrillators for schools in order to fulfill this valuable, though unfunded, state mandate that went into effect after the approval of school budgets last spring. The units cost about $2500 each. The Roslyn Public Schools welcomes contributions to defray the cost of their purchase. Please call the Superintendent of Schools 625-6303 for further information.)