Metra wants help to put defibrillators on trains

If you were to put a price on saving a life, it’s about $1.1 million for Metra.

Agency directors plan to place defibrillators on trains but since the agency also faces a $100 million budget shortfall in 2013, cost is an issue.

Rather than paying for the units, Metra directors asked staff members to seek out sponsors — possibly local hospitals — to fund purchase, maintenance and training.

In the past two years, 20 cases of heart-related medical emergencies occurred on trains. That’s out of 250 calls for medical assistance.

The average time it took paramedics to arrive was five minutes, Metra planners said, adding that the longest distance between stations and emergency responder headquarters is three miles.

Metra Director and Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder said minutes count in responding to medical crises. “Defibrillators are remarkably self-explanatory and lives have been saved (by their quick use),” she said.

“I’d like to see us pursue sponsorships,” Metra Director Jack Schaffer of Cary said. “If anyone cares about heart health it would be hospitals,” he added.

Sponsorships are the “only option I would agree to, given our financial situation,” Director Jim LaBelle of Zion said.

Board members agreed to include defibrillators in their next budget and seek out financial aid.

If Metra uses a state of Illinois purchasing contract, buying 427 defibrillators for trains, Metra buildings around the region and police vehicles, plus training employees how to use the devices, would total $1.13 million.

The cost of inspections, maintenance and replacements, in addition to recertification of staff members, would be $545,000 every two years.