It isn’t common for ambulances to stop by Armijo High School, but it does happen and the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District (FSUSD) decided to make things safer for those who might need medical attention at 18 of their campuses by installing automated electronic defibrillators (AED). Those campuses include Armijo High School and Armijo’s Sem Yeto campus. The cost of each AED, with training, was estimated to be about $2,000.

These devices will help treat individuals who have suffered from cardiac arrest and having them available makes people feel safer.

“The school district and Medic Ambulance Service Inc. held a brief press conference Monday (June 25) at Armijo High School to announce the installation of the units,” according to a Daily Republic article that ran the following day. Special training will be given to the staff at the individual schools.

According to the article, Medic Ambulance Service worked together with “Keep the Beat,” a community awareness program to improve community awareness and health in cardiovascular health, but legislation and school policies have caused issues regarding installation of AEDs on campuses.

“We changed a few policies to make this work,” Sheila McCabe, assistant superintendent of educational services, told Susan Hiland of The Daily Republic.

Jennifer Taylor, assistant director for human resources and risk management, told Hiland that she has been working toward this improvement for years. “I believe in it and I care about the safety of students and staff,” she said.