November 26, 2003
Bus drivers hold heartfelt fund-raiser
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Spearheading a drive to place an automated external defibrillator (AED) in every school, the bus drivers and aids of Traverse City Area Public Schools are one and a half steps closer to their goal.
A series of fund-raisers this fall raised enough money to purchase one unit, at a price tag of approximately $3,000. The effort also raised nearly half the money needed to purchase a second one. Traverse City Transportation Association union members are determined to meet their short-term goal of placing a unit in each high school before the year's end.
"We're going to try real hard to make it happen at both schools this year," said Jerry Niezgoda, a bus driver for 16 years who is active in the fundraising effort.
After achieving that goal, they will raise money every fall to add units to schools throughout the system, with the junior highs next on the list. Most recently working with West High School Athletic boosters, the bus drivers held a raffle where Niezgoda and other volunteers visited school carnivals, craft sales and sports events. Taking along a demonstration unit rented from the American Red Cross, they educated, trained and inspired anyone who would listen.
Their efforts sparked a teacher at East Junior High to start a fund-raiser there, an initiative the drivers hope will spread to the other schools.
"We're actually hoping that by this time next year, each school will have their own drive to raise the funds they need," said Rick Watzel, a bus driver for three years. "We will speak to any group about this to help, any PTA, club, church or organization and bring along a training unit to demonstrate how easy it is."
Niezgoda, who has been trained and certified in CPR, said an AED dramatically boosts survival rates for people who are having a heart attack. In this situation where minutes and even seconds count, having an AED readily available increases survival rates to 80 percent, instead of ten percent with properly administered CPR. With brain damage setting in after four minutes of oxygen deprivation, the AED is crucial given paramedic response times often longer than that.
"It's all about response times, that's the whole thing, and we can put one of them in every building," said Niezgoda, who noted that this effort was prompted in part by the death of a bus driver from a heart attack a few years ago. "If you happen to be standing next to an ambulance and have a heart attack, then you're OK but how often does that happen?"
Last December, drivers installed an AED at the bus garage. The union put up the funds and the drivers raised money throughout the spring and summer to repay the advance from the general fund. This unit is readily accessible, easy to use - the user is guided step by step through the process - and many in the facility have been trained.
"Once people realize how simple it is, they're not afraid to do it," Watzel noted. "We hope other businesses or schools will step up to the plate and help us get them in every school."
Placing an AED in each school is important to Niezgoda and he is passionate about meeting that goal - and at a faster pace than the drivers and aids can achieve at two per year.
"Last year, 7,000 students died in the United States from heart attacks, they had no previous signs or symptoms," he said. "What is your kid worth?"
For more information or to make a donation to the AED drive, contact the bus garage dispatch office at 933-1930.