Contact: Kay Fike Jones
With the recent purchase of three defibrillators--and another on order--Mississippi State is the first university or college in the state to have the life-saving equipment immediately available to emergency personnel.
Automated external defibrillators are briefcase-sized devices often employed as a first response to sudden cardiac arrest. Costing $3,000 each, they are used to deliver electrical shocks to the chest, arresting erratic heart muscle vibrations and restoring normal rhythm until more comprehensive care is available.
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Bill Broyles, associate director of the university's Longest Student Health Center, said Division of Student Affairs officials first discussed purchasing the equipment while the recently opened Sanderson Recreation Center still was under construction.
"The machines have been around for awhile and are becoming popular at colleges and universities," he said. "We decided to buy four of the defibrillators and place one at the Sanderson Center and one in each of three university police cars."
All 10 full-time and 25-part-time members of the recreation center staff have been trained to use the equipment. Also receiving training are uniformed officers of the 28-person university police force.
"We're happy to have them, but hopefully we'll never have to turn one on," Broyles said of the new equipment.