TVDSB defends lengthy process to accept defibrillator donation

Nearly two years after a child died playing soccer at a field next to a public school west of Woodstock, a student who witnessed the tragedy and took action to try and bring a defibrillator to his school, will finally have his goal realized after delays.

On Monday, the Thames Valley District School Board’s chair Matthew Reid said an AED would be installed at West Nissouri Public School by the end of the week, and that a policy regarding AED donations could be in place by the end of the school year. He said last June, trustees directed administration to develop a policy for AEDs that will go before a policy working committee meeting in March.

READ MORE: Thames Centre council member pushes for defibrillator policy.

Kelly Elliot, a councillor for Thames Centre and whose children attend West Nissouri Public School in Thorndale, said Connor Aarts first made a donation of a physical AED to West Nissouri in the fall of 2015 but the school board did not accept it. Afterwards, she said he tried to donate the money necessary to let the school buy a board-approved version but his donation was again refused.

The Thames Valley District School Board is chalking the donation refusals up to a “misunderstanding” but did not explain what the misunderstanding was.

“I think there was just some confusion because some people weren’t completely familiar with AEDs (automated external defibrillators),” Reid said.

“I think that we have sent out communication to all of the principles, clarifying what the process is and the procedures, so we won’t have the confusion that we’ve had in the last couple of months.”

Elliot rejected the board’s explanation.

“There’s no miscommunication, there’s no misunderstanding, there’s no confusion,” Elliot said. “I know the board keeps throwing out those words – there was none of that. There’s no misunderstanding, there’s no confusion when the answer is ‘no,’ twice.”

Elliot said she doesn’t understand why there was pushback when the device could save the lives of not only the children attending the school, but also the lives of parents, teachers, adults who play sports in the evenings and grandparents who may attend assemblies.

She said the TVDSB is the only school board in Ontario that doesn’t have a policy or doesn’t have AEDs in every school. She said she wants the board to work on creating a policy so the same drawn-out process to receive a donated defibrillator doesn’t happen elsewhere.