Saving lives with common sense

On Feb. 12, 2005, while many of us were going about our business studying, eating dinner and pre-gaming for a Saturday night downtown, 28-year-old Jason Arroyo suddenly dropped dead while salsa dancing in the ARCH building, located at the geographical nucleus of campus.

Perhaps because it was a busy time of year, or perhaps because the young man was "unaffiliated with the University," the incident received less attention than other campus news items.

This death might have been preventable. Sadly, it took until 10 to 15 minutes after the young dancer fell to the ground for Penn Police to arrive and try to resuscitate him from his apparent cardiac arrest with a defibrillator.

The question is: why was there no defibrillator available in the building where the incident occurred?

According to the University of Texas Health System, for every minute that a cardiac arrest victim must wait to receive a shock to restore the rhythm of a fibrillating heart, the chances of the victim's survival decreases by 7 to 10 percent. Thus, by the time the Penn police arrived to Arroyo, his chance for survival was nearly nonexistent.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The most recent American Heart Association data shows that 37.3 percent of deaths in America are caused by cardiovascular disease. Of the roughly 2.5 million deaths in the United States each year, 900,000 are caused by heart disease.

Penn, and other institutions of higher learning, should equip all facilities with defibrillators -- also known as Automated External Defibrillators.

If students knew that defibrillators could be found at the entrance of each academic building, library and college house, there would likely be much less confusion in the event that an unexpected medical incident takes place.

Since Penn's security officers on foot patrol or on bicycles don't carry defibrillators as standard equipment, there should be other locations where these devices are available. While we have blue light telephones to protect us, medical equipment with some type of recognizable symbol nearby would also be beneficial for improving the quality of life on campus. For instance, if someone on Locust Walk went into cardiac arrest, a medically trained individual would know immediately to run to the nearest location with a defibrillator.

And, while Penn Police are fully trained in recuscitation, most campus security guards lack such skills.

This will soon change, as Department of Public Safety is working to ensure that by spring all AlliedBarton walking, biking and vehicle guards -- approximately 60 in all -- are certified.

Many students are already certified as emergency medical technicians in Pennsylvania, and they will soon be able to assist medical teams.

For the amount of money spent on adding extra overtime patrols by the University of Pennsylvania Police Department, even a mass purchase of these $1,700 devices would amount to chump change for the University.

According to the Department of Public Safety, there are currently 14 AEDs in use around campus. Ten of these devices are in athletics buildings, two are in the dental school and two are in the human resources office.

Recently, DPS came up with a proposal that was sent to the deans of Penn's 12 schools to give them the voluntary option of participating in a pilot program.

With such great intentions, this program should be mandatory, rather than voluntary. I don't want to think that if I had a heart attack in Huntsman I might live, but, should I be taking an English course in Fisher-Bennett Hall, I'd be dead meat.

The leaders of the new Penn Emergency Medical Response Team hope to implement CPR programs on campus this Spring. I know I will be at their first workshop.

When one life is saved because of defibrillators that are more easily accessible throughout campus, Jason Arroyo's death will truly be vindicated.

Stephen Morse is a junior English and history major from Oceanside, N.Y. Morsels of Wisdom appears on Wednesdays.

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