Worried about liability, library spurns device
In a step at odds with libraries across the state, trustees of the Lawrence Library in Pepperell have denied local fire officials' attempts to install a machine in the library to help resuscitate patients having heart attacks.
''We still don't have a clear accounting of what our responsibilities would be," said Joan Wright, vice chairwoman of the trustee board. ''Anything that helps the public safety is good, but we have some reservations that we are opening ourselves to a lawsuit."
Wright said the trustees met with selectmen last week to debate the matter and may revisit their July decision to deny the placement of the device, known as an automated external defibrillator, inside the library.
Fire officials say the presence of the defibrillator, a small, hand-held device that delivers an electrical jolt to the heart, could help save lives. Patients suffering heart attacks recover more quickly the sooner they get treatment, according to Fire Chief Costa Bozicas.
But Wright and other library staffers are worried that they are ill-prepared to cope with such a medical emergency. ''We just don't like the idea of putting these in the hands of people who have little or no training," she said.
Town Administrator Robert Hanson said the Fire Department has already installed defibrillators in most town buildings, part of an effort that has earned Pepperell a designation as a ''heart safe" community. A unit typically costs about $2,000. Bozicas said that most of the 14 defibrillators in Pepperell were donated by the Rotary Club of Groton-Pepperell.
A total of 115 communities across the state have obtained that title, in a process that entails installing defibrillators in public buildings, educating the public, and upgrading local emergency services.
While the library's unwillingness to comply won't jeopardize Pepperell's current heart-safe status, Bozicas said the helpfulness of defibrillators in town buildings is undisputed. A case in point occurred in July when a police officer used one of the defibrillators to rescue a local firefighter having a heart attack, he said.
Defibrillators come with an automated voice prompt, making them relatively easy to use, Bozicas said. The device won't shock a person, unless the person's heart is beating at a very low rate, he added. ''It's pretty simple for the lay people," he said.
Hanson said anyone using it would be legally protected under the Good Samaritan Law, which protects bystanders trying to help a person from legal repercussions. ''It has to be a reckless abuse of common sense to be a liability issue," said Hanson.
Wright noted that any protecting clause doesn't mean no one will sue the town, however. ''That never stops anyone from suing you," she said.
Paul Dreyer, an assistant commissioner for the Department of Public Health, said he is unaware of any other libraries in the state turning down defibrillators. ''Liability is often a concern," he said. ''But that concern is mitigated by laws that exempt people from liability."
In nearby Groton, town officials installed a defibrillator this past January with no opposition, said Owen Shuman, library director. But her staff was hesitant at first, she said.
''I think it's something that's out of the ordinary," Shuman said. ''People ask: Gee, is this really our place?"
Pepperell's library director, Ann Parsons, said her staff has been split on the issue. But Parsons said she personally opposes the step.
''I'd hate to use one of these and have the patient die," she said. ''Library staff aren't equipped to deal with those kinds of emotions." 