KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Kelseyville Unified School District has added another measure of protection to its campuses in order to safeguard students, staff and community members.

Portable defibrillators were placed around district’s campuses about a month and a half ago, an effort made possible through a grant, according to Matt Cockerton, principal of Kelseyville High School.

“We started planning some time ago to get these on campus,” said Cockerton.

An event last year raised awareness of the need for such life-saving devices, he said.

“We had a basketball player go into arrest last school year and we almost lost him during a practice session,” said Cockerton.

Although Kelseyville Fire’s main station is just down the street, it happened that day that they were on a call and couldn’t respond in time, he said.

Teachers on campus know cardiopulmonary resuscitation and were able to care for the boy, but Cockerton said the situation was “touch and go.”

Kelseyville Fire helped the district apply for the grant to cover the defibrillators, which cost about $1,000 each, according to Cockerton.

He said Kelseyville High got the lion’s share of the grant to pay for three defibrillators – one at the main building, one at the gym and one at the track and football field.

Each of the other campuses received one of the life-saving decides, he said.

Cockerton said the models the district purchased interact with those used by Kelseyville Fire.

Staff has been trained on the devices, which Cockerton said are very simple to use, with simple instructions that walk users through the steps. He said the defibrillators also must regularly be maintained and tested.

The three new devices are a good start, but Cockerton said they would like to add more to the high school campus if the opportunity arises.

“There will be a day that schools will all have them,” he said.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com , on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .