EDITORIAL | AEDs Save Lives. Why Won’t The VSB?
Photo Credit: Tobias Zhang
Tobias Zhang was in grade 9 at Point Grey Secondary when he witnessed the death of his close friend at basketball tryouts.
“He went out to get water and he didn't come back for a few minutes, but I didn’t think much of it until there was another student who came sprinting in the gym,” said Zhang. The student yelled that somebody had collapsed near the water fountain. Zhang ran outside to help and found his friend.
He watched as other bystanders checked his friend’s pulse, and someone called 911. The operator instructed students to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and to grab the nearest Automated External Defibrillator (AED). However, Vancouver schools aren't equipped with defibrillators. Students ran 600 meters to retrieve the nearest device, located at a London Drugs. According to a study published by Science Direct, if an AED is located further than 240 meters, it will not be retrieved in time to effectively assist the patient.
Paramedics arrived before students returned, but by then, it was too late.
A few days later, Zhang approached his vice principal and asked why there was no AED on the school site. He was told that the choice was up to the Vancouver School Board (VSB) and was instructed to check with them instead.
For two years, Zhang waited for a response that never came. In February 2024, Zhang went to the Point Grey principal and asked if he could fundraise for an AED. After reaching out to the VSB, the principal told Zhang that he would not be allowed to fundraise for three reasons: the VSB wanted all schools to receive AEDs at the same time, there was concern about installation costs and maintenance fees, and the risk for cardiac arrest in school-aged children was too low.
“I think [the reasons are] pretty ridiculous because the other school boards — in Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey — those schools all have AEDs,” Zhang said in an interview with The Nest. “The real issue is that all the other schools have AEDs, and we don’t.”
Additionally, Zhang believes that the installation and maintenance fee is in fact “not a cost issue at all,” because AEDs are quite low-maintenance. “Somebody just has to check if a green light is flashing every month. Every five years, a battery change is necessary. Every ten years, the pads are switched,” Zhang said.
Zhang argues that the risk of cardiac arrest “doesn’t just affect students, it affects teachers too, who are more susceptible.” He added that by installing AEDs in schools, surrounding communities would also be granted quick access to an AED as well.
“So I thought, I’m going to go through with this anyways, because I really care about this issue,” Zhang explained. In April, he founded Students for AEDs, a non-profit organization dedicated to fundraising and advocating for the installation of AEDs across VSB high schools. After conducting various fundraisers in partnership with Krispy Kreme, they raised enough to purchase an AED.
With the newly-bought AED in hand, representatives from Students for AEDs went to their new principal and offered to donate the AED to their school. However, the donation was shot down, and the students were told that they must ask the VSB for permission. When they explained that they had already asked the VSB and been refused, they were asked why they had bothered to fundraise in the first place. Zhang “didn’t like this answer,” but took his principal’s words as a sign that the “fight [was] against the VSB.”
At the time, Students for AEDs had partnered with a local bakery, Purebread, who gave them a dollar each time they sold one of the three red-themed items offered at the store. That fundraiser, which has been running for two months and is still ongoing, is set to end this December.
So far, Students for AEDs has raised $5,000 and received a donation of five AEDs. Additionally, they are expecting to receive a large sum from their partnership with Purebread.
In response to a request for comment from The Nest, VSB Communications said, “VSB staff have been actively working on a sustainable plan to deploy [AEDs] in our secondary schools.”
Communications continued that the VSB adheres to the guidance provided by the Vancouver Coastal Health Medical Health Officer and WorkSafe BC. “Families who have identified their child with a heart condition may have student-specific AED units at their school as prescribed by their treating physician. This practice has been in place for many years,” they said.
“I know this issue has been a debate within the VSB for the past ten years, and I feel it only gets attention when another student dies,” said Zhang.
Students for AEDs continue to fundraise and formulate new initiatives, and Zhang wishes to tell interested individuals to message their Instagram account, @studentsforaeds, to become a volunteer.
The AED: A Crash Course
An AED is a life-saving device capable of treating around 79 per cent of Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OHCAs), according to a prospective cohort study on North American communities. These devices work by analyzing a patient’s heart rhythms and determining if the arrhythmia causing the cardiac arrest is shockable through its adhesive electrode pads.
The AED includes a speaker that walks the operator through its relatively simple procedure: clear the chest area, position the pads in specific parts, and wait for the AED to determine if a shock is necessary. AEDs can be either automatic or semi-automatic, with the former automatically inflicting a shock and the latter requiring the operator to press a ‘shock’ button.
Cardiac arrests are caused by a failure of the cardiac conduction system, which can result in an arrhythmia that prevents the heart from properly pumping blood. The electric shock from the AED depolarizes the heart and ends the arrhythmia, allowing the sinoatrial node of the heart to re-establish normal rhythm.
When used alongside CPR, AEDs can increase the chance of survival by more than 75 per cent, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.
A report by the British Columbia Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) states that “almost all cardiac arrest victims will die without an electric shock to restart the heart.”
The majority of cardiac arrests are experienced by adults and seniors. BCEHS reports that only 96 out of 6138 – roughly 1.6 per cent – patients in one reporting cycle were under the age of 19. This statistic is expected; children are less likely to have conditions such as cardiomyopathies — cardiovascular muscle diseases — that put them at risk.
Previous AED Cases
In 2018, a 12-year-old elementary school student lost consciousness during school hours, and was kept alive by the efforts of their teacher, Wendy Swain. As the student was suffering from cardiac arrest, Swain performed CPR and contacted the local authorities.
On the phone call with the 911 operator, Swain was asked if there was an AED present in the school that could be used to assist with saving the student’s life. Swain was terrified — the school did not have any AEDs available for her use.
Luckily, paramedics arrived within ten minutes and were able to restart the heart of the student, who survived and made a full recovery.
Following this incident, Swain urged the school board to equip schools with AEDs. “They’re in car dealerships. Why wouldn’t they be in schools?” Swain said, as reported by The Vancouver Sun.
Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi, the former head of pediatric cardiology at BC Children’s Hospital, offered to buy an AED for Swain’s school. The VSB refused to accept it, citing maintenance and liability as primary reasons.
In April 2009, 10-year-old Bezawit Chanyalew suffered a cardiac arrest episode while in PHE class at Henry Hudson elementary school. Once emergency workers arrived, it took several minutes to revive her. The lack of oxygen supply to her brain during this time left her with a brain injury, which led to acute cognitive disabilities. According to documents filed with the BC Supreme Court, Chanyalew was an “engaged, social, [and] friendly” student prior to her incident.
Chanyalew had a previously identified heart condition, known as long QT syndrome, which can cause seizures or even death as a result of strenuous physical activity.
Jay Chalke, Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia at the time, sued the VSB on the grounds that the school failed to act on a fax sent two days before, which outlined Chanyalew’s medical condition. The VSB paid her family $1.7 million to settle the case. This was a larger sum than the $1.6 million the district had estimated would be needed to provide VSB schools with AEDs.
Dilshaan Dhaliwal’s case of cardiac arrest in his home town of Oliver, BC, further demonstrates the necessity of AEDs. In January 2019, 13-year-old Dhaliwal finished a PHE class run and collapsed.
Dhaliwal had a heart condition, which his friends were aware of, and they made critical decisions to save his life. “They jumped straight into CPR and then they used an AED heart machine which saved my life,” Dhaliwal told Global News.
As of 2019, his resident school district — Okanagan Similkameen — possessed eight AEDs and was in the process of ordering more.
If Dhaliwal had collapsed while attending school in a different district, without an AED, he may not have survived.
Amplifying Voices: Letters of Support
Students for AEDs has collected dozens of endorsement letters from students, teachers, parents, alumni, and medical professionals, all urging the VSB to take immediate action and implement AEDs in every school in the district.
One of the most notable letters, containing 80 signatures from health professionals throughout BC, “strongly recommend[s] that the Board invest in AEDs across the district.”
The letter argues that “AEDs are designed to be accessible for anyone to use, regardless of training.” Additionally, it states that many schools across the province and even North America, have implemented AED programs to equip students with life-saving skills, which would eliminate a need for further training funded by the VSB.
Iridia Medical Inc., an AED supply company that pioneered the first public access AED programs in BC, also contributed a letter of support. The company emphasized the importance of AEDs for the safety of all students and staff.
Irida Medical argued that sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) can affect any individual, at any time, often without warning. “[SCA] does not discriminate — even young healthy individuals are at risk.”
In their letter, the company produced a comprehensive breakdown of the estimated costs of administering and managing an AED program over a 10-year period.
They included a 2018 statistic from the VSB, which estimated the overall cost of AED implementation and management to be $1,639,000, including pad and battery replacement, and the replacement of the AEDs at the end of the ten year term.
Iridia Medical’s estimation, based on current multi-piece pricing for 115 units and supplies, displays the total ten-year cost — including all factors considered by the VSB — to be just $385,825.
In response to a request for comment, VSB Communications said, “While we cannot comment on estimates provided by external vendors, VSB’s original estimate of $1.6 million accounts for the purchase of at least 110 AED units, along with installation, staff training, and long-term maintenance costs.”
Next Steps
Students for AEDs is currently waiting for a response from the VSB, which they assume will come in April 2025, when the VSB is releasing their next budget plan.
Additionally, the organization attended a VSB delegation meeting, where they spoke to school trustees and presented their letters of support.
Now, they hope to get the Vancouver District Student Council involved, and have already spoken to Point Grey Secondary’s representatives about the issue.
Zhang told The Nest that he has personally spoken to multiple school trustees about the lack of AEDs in schools, including VSB trustee Suzie Mah and former Vancouver School Board Chair and current VSB trustee Christpher Richardson, who have all endorsed the cause. Zhang has also garnered the support of Harjit Sajjan, a Member of Parliament for Vancouver South and the Minister of Emergency Preparedness of Canada.
AED Advocacy at Hamber
Kelly Lau, a former Eric Hamber student, was also involved with advocacy for AEDs in schools. After becoming involved with a nonprofit called Hearts Of BC, she began volunteering her time to have an AED installed at Hamber. Lau worked on a pitch to give the VSB, but according to her, talks regarding this “fizzled out.”
Lau believes the VSB should follow the example set by and other districts. She argues that “you don’t need to justify the need for AEDS with a loss of human life. Around 40,000 people die of cardiac arrest every year, and those that occur outside the hospital have a higher mortality rate.”
“Survival chances decrease by ten per cent for every minute that immediate CPR and use of an AED is delayed, so having quick access to these [devices is] important in any public space,” she explained.
While the VSB notes that cardiac arrest is rare in school-aged individuals, Lau believes that any device that could save a life should be installed in schools, regardless of cost.
“They save lives. End of conversation. We don’t need to get into a cost-analysis war,” she said. “If it can help save human lives then it should be a priority in schools. How much does a life cost?”
Beyond the VSB: AEDs in Other Districts
Unlike the VSB, AEDs have become commonplace for schools in other districts.
In 2019, 14-year-old Alex Gomez suffered cardiac arrest at a Surrey community centre. The facility was equipped with an AED, and he survived. Subsequently, his mother, Esmeralda Gomez, campaigned to have the devices placed in all Surrey schools.
The Surrey School District decided to take a “proactive approach,” and had AEDs installed at all 20 of its secondary schools and four District offices, as student safety is its top priority, chair Laurie Larsen told The Vancouver Sun.
“The case of the student in the summer reinforced the fact these are needed,” said Ritinder Matthew, a spokesperson for the Surrey school district.
The district spent $50,000 to install AEDs, leaving AED advocates hopeful that the VSB will take notice of this approach.
“It's the largest school district in BC; we're very thankful that the Surrey School District has decided to place AEDs in their schools. Maybe this will entice the Vancouver School District to do the same,” Mary Stambulic, director of policy and systems change for the BC and Yukon Heart and Stroke Foundation, told North Shore News.
The North Okanagan-Shuswap School District decided to install AEDs in all of its schools after an incident in the community. In 2018, Salmon Arm resident Jeremy Stoelting, 15, was found dead in his sleep by grandmother Rosemary Foster, who attempted CPR. The family donated two AEDs to schools in the area, which led the District to announce a plan to equip all schools with AEDs in 2020.
The Richmond School District has opted to place multiple AEDs in its schools. On Jun. 19, the board decided to place three AEDs in every secondary school, and one to two in elementary schools, depending on their size. The initiative cost $180,000, and was covered entirely by internal funds.
"Precautionary measures do not suggest [...] that this is a common occurrence," said district Superintendent Christopher Usih, also addressing the board’s decision to place naloxone kits in schools. "In the event of an emergency, we want to make sure everyone is safe in our schools."
Additionally, during the 2018–19 school year, the North Vancouver School District bought AEDs for its seven secondary schools.
“While AEDs are not [...] required [by the province], given [that] the health, safety and well-being of the school community is a top priority for the school district, we do regularly review our health and safety plans [...] and update them as needed,” said district communications manager Lisa Dalla Vecchia, in an emailed statement to North Shore News.
AEDs have been installed in all Coquitlam, New Westminster, Delta, Powell River, and Comox Valley schools. The Okanagan Skaha, Central Okanagan, and Vernon Districts have installed AEDs at all of their high schools.
While some of these districts pale in comparison to Vancouver’s size, the Toronto District School Board — Canada’s largest — provides a more comparable case study. In 2008, the district installed AEDs in all 112 of its secondary schools.
Manitoba passed legislation requiring AEDs be installed in all schools by 2014, and in June, Quebec’s Education Minister, Bernard Drainville, announced his government would spend $3 million to purchase AEDs for all public schools. Even before the announcement, 50 per cent of the province’s elementary schools had defibrillators.
Twenty US states, in addition to the District of Columbia, have laws mandating AEDs in schools. Separately, California mandates defibrillators in all schools that offer sports.
The difference in the VSB’s policy could not be more apparent. When it comes to safety, Vancouver students are living in a different reality. School districts across the country — and across the continent — have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep AEDs available, and yet, the VSB refuses to budge.
While incidences of sudden cardiac arrest are rare among students, AEDs are still needed. For Bezawit Chanyalew, Emily Swain’s student, and Tobias Zhang’s friend, an in-school defibrillator would have likely made a huge difference — despite the devices’ cost. The VSB is putting a price tag on student safety, while in reality, human life is priceless.
The Nest calls on the VSB to ensure the highest level of safety for its staff and students by not only accepting donated AEDs, but prioritizing the installation of defibrillators in schools across the district.