Children go to school to learn, but thousands of people, other than students, walk through the hallways of the district's 41 schools every year.

As polling spots, sporting venues and meeting places, Natrona County's schools serve the community in a variety of ways.

Sydney Webb, employee wellness coordinator for the district, has started a mission to offer another school-grounds service - to save their lives.

Over the past year, Webb has helped the school district acquire 16 automated external defibrillators (AED), machines that shock an ailing heart back to a normal rhythm during cardiac arrest.

More than 450,000 people die of sudden cardiac arrest in the United States every year, according to the American Heart Association, killing almost as many people as heart attacks.

The school district received matching funds of $10,000 from the Blue Envelope Health Fund to purchase the defibrillators. The matching funds came out of an individual school's budget if it wanted one.

Blue Envelope has helped purchase AEDs for other organizations. Sue Hoag, vice president for the fund, said the schools were a logical choice to place them next.

"They are centrally located back from commercial areas," Hoag said. "They are in residential areas and close to homes."

The Natrona County School District joined a national trend of installing defibrillators in all schools. Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, has sponsored legislation to create a federal grant program to get the devices in every elementary and secondary school in the country.

"Regionally, we are ahead of the game, but some states have laws requiring these in the schools," Webb said.

In Ohio, 13 people have been saved with defibrillators in schools since 2005. In New York, 38 lives have been saved since 2002.

Before Blue Envelope's help, the school Natrona County School District had only three defibrillators.

Now there are three each at Natrona County and Kelly Walsh high schools; two each at Centennial, CY and Dean Morgan junior high schools; and one each at Poison Spider, Frontier Middle School and Midwest.

The district also has one at its main office, transportation area, maintenance building and warehouse.

"I think every school should have one or two," said Frank Martin, an athletic trainer at NCHS.

For every minute a defibrillator is not applied to someone in cardiac arrest, the person's chance of survival decreases by 7 to 10 percent, Webb said.

"EMS comes in three minutes. If we can use an AED within one minute, we can increase their chance of survival," Webb said.

Dialing 911 immediately and effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) also increases survival chances.

Most of the staff and several students know how to use an AED and do CPR.

At NCHS, one defibrillator is located outside the auditorium and another by the gymnasium, Martin said. A third is used as a mobile defibrillator that trainers carry with them to events.

Martin said he remembers an event about 12 years ago where a student went into cardiac arrest and the school didn't have an AED. He said the student survived, but things would have been much easier if they had one.

"With the age of our athletes here, I hope we don't have any problems," Martin said. "The coaches, the fans, the referees are really what we are dealing with."

Webb said other foundations turned him down when he asked for money, because they said it was a school district project.

"It's not," Webb said. "It's a community one. Where does our community gather? The schools. Our schools are open almost 24 hours a day seven days a week."

Webb hopes to get more defibrillators in the schools. They cost between $1,300 and $1,500.

"We will continue to address cost until it saves one of our loved ones," he said. "That's why we're going slow and looking for alternative funding. Saving someone's life - you can't put a price on that."

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com

What is sudden cardiac arrest?

Some people describe sudden cardiac arrest as "the basketball player falling dead on the court" tragedy.

It is the sudden, abrupt loss of heart function caused by an irregular heart beat.

It is different from heart attack because a heart attack is a "plumbing problem" and cardiac arrest is an "electricity problem."

Why should you use an automated external defibrillator if someone is in cardiac arrest?

The light-weight, portable device delivers an electric shock through the chest to the heart. The shock can stop an irregular rhythm and allow a normal rhythm to resume.

For every minute a defibrillator is not applied to someone in cardiac arrest, the person's chance of survival decreases by 7 to 10 percent.

Not just schools

Besides the schools, where else in the county can I find an automated external defibrillator? Here are a number of locations where they can be found:

- Natrona County Detention Center

- Casper Senior Center

- Casper Events Center

- Casper Recreation Center

- Central Wyoming Counseling Center

- Central Wyoming Hospice

- YMCA

- Pathfinder Boat Club

- First United Methodist Church

- Sloanes General Store in Alcova

- Alcova Boat Club

- Life Steps Campus

- Eastridge Mall

- Sunrise Shopping Center

- Wyoming Athletic Club, both the east- and west-side facilities

- LifeTime Health and Fitness Center

- Rocky Mountain Oncology

- Life Care Center of Casper

- Compiled by Karen Merback, of HealthyU Educators in Casper.