In cases of cardiac emergency, the timely usage of an automated external defibrillator (AED) can make the difference between life and death. At Boston College, the Office of Emergency Management and BC Emergency Medical Services (BCEMS) hope to improve these chances of survival by tripling the number of AEDs located on University-owned properties.
“We’ve had AEDs on campus for a number of years in specific buildings,” said John Tommaney, director of emergency management. “We wanted to bring it under one streamlined, standardized approach.”
AEDs will be installed in a two-phase roll-out, Tommaney said. The first phase, scheduled to be completed by the end of this semester, will result in AEDs being installed in almost every major building on campus, including most academic buildings—many of which currently lack defibrillators.
“We’ve actually started the installation,” Tommaney said. “Out of the new ones, there’s about 45 new ones—close to 50 now—that we’ve rolled across campus. We have a little more than another 50 that’ll be going out over the next couple of months.”
By the end of phase one, a total of 106 new AEDs will be installed in major buildings on campus. The AEDs will be strategically located near entry points or areas of buildings, usually at eye level, according to Tommaney.
“Our goal is to make sure that they’re visible to people,” Tommaney said. “It’s not to go hunting for it.”
Phase two focuses on installing AEDs in residence halls and other areas, further increasing the number of AEDs on University-owned properties.
All AEDs installed under the initiative will be the newest available model, the Avive Connect AED. Additionally, all current AEDs will be replaced with this model before being sent back to vendors through a buyback program, Tommaney said.
The Avive AED model was selected for its auditory and visual elements, as well as its ability to provide emergency responders with an instant cardiac rhythm, according to Tommaney.
“They’re small, they’re lightweight, they’re not scary, right?” Tommaney said. “That’s part of the reason we selected this particular model. We wanted to be less obtrusive and less kind of intimidating for people to use the device.”
The Avive Connect AED is also easier to use for those who are not trained to operate defibrillators, according to Madison Carr, a BCEMS member who works at the Office of Emergency Management.
“The company really pushed to make them very approachable for someone who has no idea what the device is,” Carr, MCAS ’25, said.
Tommaney, with the assistance of BCEMS members including Samantha Strasser, CSON ’25, proposed the initiative to BC administrators about a year ago.
“I did a lot of research on cardiac arrest instances on campus and helped John [Tommaney] mark that initial PowerPoint, which was shown to senior administration showing why this was important, why we need this,” Strasser said. “John and I started to place where AEDs should be on campus based on what other college campuses have done, because their programs, like MIT’s, are super, super successful.”
Now that the initiative is ongoing, the Office of Emergency Management and BCEMS are focusing on emergency preparedness and education among the BC community, according to BCEMS Director of Education Kate Serpe.
“We do a lot of different tabling events teaching people about these new AEDs, teaching people about hands-only CPR as well,” Serpe, MCAS ’25, said. “We also offer American Heart Association CPR courses through BCEMS. We actually bring our new AEDs to all these classes so people can interact with them during the CPR course as well.”
Serpe said she encourages students to take part in these CPR classes, which are accessible via the Office of Emergency Management and BCEMS Instagram accounts. The BC Safe app also provides resources for students regarding safety and preparedness, including a map with AED locations on campus. This map will be updated as more AEDs are installed throughout phases one and two, Serpe said.
“Something like knowing where the nearest AED is could literally save someone’s life,” Strasser said. “When we think about being a man and woman for others and the impact we make on BC’s campus, what better way to do that than knowing how to save a life.”
