Plainview‑Old Bethpage board reviews revised safety plan adding AEDs and cardiac response teams

Chris, a district staff member presenting the revised districtwide safety plan, told the board the plan adds a cardiac emergency response component required under recently issued state guidance. “By law, Desh's Law puts these things in place on a district wide basis by January 2026,” Chris said, describing mandatory training, on‑site cardiac emergency response teams (CERTs) and new procedures to ensure timely use of AEDs.

The plan responds to cases in which locked AED cabinets or lack of training delayed lifesaving care, and directs each building to establish CERT teams and redundancy so a trained responder and an AED can reach an incident within a target of three minutes. Chris said the district will expand portable AED availability at specific schools: Old Bethpage, Judy Jacobs Parkway, and Pasadena elementary schools will each receive one additional portable AED; Stratford Road will receive four additional devices (to better cover a second floor and annex); Matlin will increase to a total of nine AEDs; JFK High School will receive four more devices; and portable coverage will be added for the district’s Jamaica Avenue facility for off‑site or facility‑use events.

Chris also outlined operational steps: buildings must identify core CERT members with CPR/AED training, assign roles (CPR provider, AED retriever, information liaison to nurses/HR/EMS), post AED locations with clear signage, annually certify devices and staff, and run drills with post‑event debriefs to refine protocols. He emphasized that the staff response will hand control to arriving EMS and that the new protocols apply specifically to sudden cardiac arrest, not other medical events.

Board members pressed for implementation details. Ginger asked how CERTs would operate in small sites such as Jamaica Avenue and whether every house within larger secondary schools would have a team; Chris acknowledged smaller sites will rely on available staff and event hosts, and said facility use forms will require outside groups to provide AED resources when they run events. He said redundancy and substitute coverage will be built into training and drills.

Chair remarks highlighted district burden: the chair noted the law was signed in July with guidance arriving in mid‑August and said, “It’s going to cost us money that we didn't budget for,” pointing to unfunded implementation requirements and the challenge of meeting them on short notice.

The board was asked to approve circulation of the revised plan; staff said a 30‑day public comment period would begin the next day and run through January 7, with a committee meeting scheduled for Dec. 4 and final board approval expected in January following that review. The district identified the new devices as already procured or budgeted for earlier purchases, and staff said more detailed implementation timelines and training schedules will be provided as the plan is circulated for comment.

Next steps: the board moved to circulate the revised plan for a 30‑day comment period; staff will return with any revisions after the Dec. 4 committee review and the board will consider final approval in January.