HOUSTON – There are still many questions surrounding the tragic passing of a student last week on the gym floor at Marshall Middle School.
In the aftermath of the death, there have been questions surrounding the integrity of the defibrillator used during the medical event and whether or not it was working properly.
On Monday, Houston ISD put out a press release announcing that an inspection of all defibrillators conducted by the district prior to August 1st of this year resulted in 170 defibrillators out of 1,038 were not compliant with HISD standards. The inspection is a “course of practice” within the district, according to a spokesperson.
The district is now focused on ordering working parts for those defibrillator machines as they need to be updated.
However, the district made one thing very clear: “Every school has a working AED machine and there is an average of three working AED machines on campus,” said Alexandra Elizondo, the Chief of the Office of Public Affairs and Communication for HISD.
What is Superintendent Mike Miles saying? KPRC 2 Investigates attempted to ask him questions at a meeting with the media that he called for but he refused to answer any questions regarding defibrillators.
As to whether the district has identified if the defibrillator was working properly at Marshall Middle School?
“I have a lot of empathy about this, right now I cannot provide any more details about the specific events on August 14th, thank you so much,” said Elizondo.