Committee approves donation of AEDs to Tinley Park youth teams, recipients responsible for upkeep

The Village of Sydney Park Committee of the Whole on Oct. 21 approved donation agreements to supply automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to two Tinley Park youth organizations, the Bobcats and the Bulldogs.

Trustees debated who would be trained to use the devices and who would be responsible for upkeep. An unidentified speaker raised the training concern: “It's no good to have them if we don't know who's gonna be trained and who's responsible to making sure that they're operational.” According to the agreement language read into the record, the village will provide an initial training offer but will not accept ongoing maintenance or training obligations.

An attorney for the village summarized the liability limitation on the record: “For liability reasons, we included in the donation agreement that after that our only responsibility is to acquire them and donate them. We have no ongoing responsibility to train them, no ongoing responsibility to maintain them or to make sure they're in working order.” The transcript indicates the village intends recipients to assume responsibility for batteries, periodic checks and any additional training.

Trustees moved and approved each donation by roll call. The minutes do not list a dollar amount or the number of devices donated; that information was not specified on the record.

The agreements are identical for both teams, according to the chair. The committee recorded no public comment on the item and approved the motions unanimously. The committee adjourned to a short recess before the board meeting.