Investigation finds life-saving equipment missing from some Jacksonville schools

An Action News Jax investigation reveals life-saving equipment is not available at all Duval County Public Schools.

Joe Meyer grew up loving sports, especially baseball.  However, his plans to play disappeared during a sports physical.

“I had to grow up pretty quickly. There were lots of doctor's appointments, different diagnoses that I had for a year where they told me I would be dead by the time I was 19,” said Meyer.

Meyer has a congenital heart defect.

“I would go to school every day not knowing if I was going to have an episode where my heart rate would shoot up. In the middle of class, I'd get chest pains. I'd be slipping in and out of consciousness. You know there are people like me in all those schools,” said Meyer.

Meyer attended a private school with an AED, a life saving device that can deliver an electronic shock to save a person's life.

The Duval County public school system has them in every high school and alternative school except for one. Every middle and K-8 school also has at least one AED. But when you look at elementary schools, only 15 have the life-saving devices right now. That leaves nearly 90 schools in the district without them. Two K-6 schools also don’t have them.

Action News Jax reporter Romney Smith spoke with Duval County Schools superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti about the availability of AEDs.

“Maybe the PTA, a private donor, a parent that's connected to the school donates it and that's why some of those schools have it,” said Vitti.

Public schools in Florida are not required to have AEDs. Vitti told Action News Jax one of the challenges is finding the $150,000 within the budget to pay for 100 AEDs.

“District-funded, I think that we are doing the right thing with a finite amount or resources and I think parents should be assured that by the end of next year they will be in all of our schools district-wide,” said Vitti.

The district ensures medically fragile students have an AED in their school.  Vitti said half will be installed by the end of this school year and the other half installed by the end of the 2017-18.

Meyer, who is an intern with the American Heart Association, said his fears of collapsing in school were calmed by the presence of an AED.

"There are people like me in all of those schools who have that same fear every day. You know that fear was kind of suppressed a little bit knowing that I had the AEDs,” said Meyer.

The Duval County School System said it is installing 50 AEDs at elementary schools over the next two weeks.  The rest of the schools will receive them next school year.

Find out if your school has an AED.

DCPS AED installation plan

DCPS AED program manual

Cox Media Group