Student Senate unanimously passed a resolution -- with 30 yeas -- Wednesday asking Ball State University to put automated external defibrillators in University Police Department patrol cars.
A defibrillator is a device that uses an electric shock to restore a person's heartbeat.
Asher Lisec, president pro-tempore of Student Senate and the resolution's author, said she came up with the idea for the resolution after a Ball State custodian went into cardiac arrest in the new music building late in Fall Semester.
University Police were the first to arrive after receiving a phone call that said the custodian was experiencing chest pain. She was awake when UPD arrived, but her heart stopped after the paramedics arrived, Gene Burton, director of public safety, said. If the paramedics would have arrived just a few minutes later, the closest defibrillator UPD would have had access to is in Emens Auditorium, he said. Even though the custodian died, UPD would have had no way of restarting her heart.
Burton said University Police are often the first to respond to university calls, and he wants the UPD to have all the tools it needs to be an effective force.
"I think any time you can put a piece of equipment in the officer's hand that can effectively help them do their job," Burton said, " I think you need to support that."
Ball State has seven defibrillators, according to the resolution. The machines are strategically placed in various buildings around campus, Burton said.
While 26 of the university's 29 police officers are trained to use a defibrillator, none of the campus' 16 police cars actually has one. The Department of Public Safety has not been successful in acquiring money to buy the defibrillators, Burton said.
However, he said many departments on campus, including the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, are working to secure funds.
Burton has no idea when the university could buy the devices but hopes to see it happen over the summer, he said.
"If we were able to purchase them, they would certainly be in cars and ready for school in the fall," he said. Even though the resolution won't reach University Senate until fall, Burton said he will look into getting the devices this summer.
Ball State would only need to buy about six defibrillators because there are an average of six of the 16 cars patrolling at one time, Lisec said.
Burton wants to see a bare minimum of four defibrillators available for officer use, but would like to see more, he said.
"If we could have four, we could have one assigned for each shift and special events," Burton said.
It wouldn't cost the university extra money to train the three officers, who haven't been trained to use a defibrillator, because the Department of Public Safety already has an employee to do that, Burton said. The department plans to train the three officers soon, he said.
"They already know how to use them," said Mike Gallion, Student Government Association treasurer. "They're there to save lives. That's plain and simple and cut and dry."
Even if it would cost more money to train the officers, Mark Murphy, Student Safety Committee chairman, said it is a minimal expense compared to the potential benefits.
"You can never be too safe," Murphy said. "You can never take too many precautions. If it helps one person, then it's worth any extra training or expense."
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