Somers Middle School and Lakeside Elementary will soon have automatic external defibrillators on campus.

An AED is a portable device that checks heart rhythm and if necessary can send an electric shock to the heart to try and restore normal rhythm. They are used to treat sudden cardiac arrest, which is one of the leading causes of death in the United States according to the American Red Cross.

 The AED units are coming to the schools through a the Rural Montana Access to Emergency Devices grant awarded to St. Vincent by Services Administration Office of Rural Health Policy. 

The intent of the grant is help distribute and implement the use of AEDs and provide CPR training in rural communities in Montana—specifically in schools and community gathering areas.

On Oct. 14, St. Vincent Healthcare is hosting a hands only CPR training for staff and students at Somers Middle School and for staff at Lakeside elementary.

School district nurse Jeannie Penner said the training and AEDs are one part of what the school district is doing to improve overall health, not just in the school, but in the community.

“It meets the community needs because we’ll have trained AED staff,” Penner said. 

The hands-only CPR training offered to middle school students as well as staff, will also benefit the Lakeside and Somers community she said. Teaching the hands-only method helps relieve some of the stigma associated with mouth-to-mouth CPR, and alleviates the worry of catching something.

“When kids are out hiking and biking and skiing, they’re the ones who need to know it, so they can step in until EMS arrives,” she said.