Thanks to a $10,000 contribution from the William H. Hannon Foundation, students at St. Anthony High School (SAHS), the only Catholic college preparatory school in Long Beach, will be a lot safer this year. 

The Foundation’s grant has made it possible for St. Anthony’s to purchase eight Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), to be used on the school’s main campus, gymnasium and athletic fields. 

AEDs are portable medical devices that check a person’s heart rhythm, and can send electric shocks to restore normal rhythms in the heart, in the event of sudden cardiac arrest. According to medical experts, a person suffering from cardiac arrest has a significantly better chance of survival if an AED is administered within the first minute of an attack. With the Foundation’s contribution, the school will have a total of 10 AEDs on campus. 

In the 2018-2019 school year, SAHS will have the largest student enrollment in 20 years, with nearly 600 students. Recently, the high school won CIF Championships in football, girls’ volleyball, girls’ basketball and softball, as well as League Championships in all other sports.  

This year, SAHS has employed a certified athletic trainer, who offers on-site medical assistance during all scheduled athletic practices, conditioning and competition times. The high school has also implemented a Sports Medicine Class within its curriculum. 69 SAHS sports medicine students completed their training this year, becoming certified in CPR/AED and Basic First Aid Training.

 St. Anthony High School students stand in front of the Sports Medicine Office with one of the new AEDs. (PHOTO COURTESY ST. ANTHONY HIGH SCHOOL)

“My late uncle, William Hannon, our Foundation’s founder, believed in supporting unique programs at our Catholic schools, especially where a relatively small contribution could have a major impact.  Contributing $10,000 to help fund 8 Automated External Defibrillators is one of the more unique requests we have recently received, and it certainly will help save lives,” said Kathleen Hannon Aikenhead, President of the William H. Hannon Foundation.

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