Lack of AEDs on HISD campus likely topic of discussion at council labor committee meeting

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Fed-up Houston ISD teachers will take their case to city leaders at a Houston City Council labor committee meeting on Thursday.

The demands for answers from HISD are only getting louder in the days since the sudden death of an eighth-grade student at Marshall Middle School.

ORIGINAL REPORT: Marshall Middle School student dies after suffering medical emergency on campus, HISD says

Houston ISD confirmed the death of a Marshall Middle School student after reportedly suffering a medical emergency on Wednesday.

The Houston Federation of Teachers will be at Thursday's committee meeting.

HISD said the incident happened in front of other students and staff members who tried to help.

The student, identified as Landon Payton, was taken to a hospital, but HISD confirmed he had died a day later.

It's unclear what exactly caused Landon's death.

The outcry for answers surrounds the status of a defibrillator on campus.

READ MORE: Houston teachers' union being told defibrillator wasn't working when Marshall MS student collapsed

The Houston Federation of Teachers is claiming that Marshall Middle School's defibrillator wasn't working when a student collapsed this week.

Defibrillators, or "AEDs," are used to help restore a person's heartbeat when it stops. Districts are required to have them.

According to the Houston Federation of Teachers, staff at Marshall Middle School claim an attempt to use a defibrillator on Landon was unsuccessful because it did not work.

In the days since, a former HISD nurse came forward to ABC13 with claims that she alerted her campus last school year about a defibrillator with a dead battery, but she claims nothing was done about it due to budget restraints.

"I took it off the wall. I explained to the admin office, it wasn't working. I placed the order for the battery," Patricia Cook said.

SEE ALSO: HISD silent on alleged AED failure when middle school student suffered fatal medical emergency

Days after a Marshall Middle School student died during gym class, Houston ISD leaders haven't said if the school's AED was working.

The Houston Federation of Teachers said a third-party contractor is supposed to service the devices once a year, but it's unclear if that happened at Marshall.

HISD has not responded to those claims and will not say if the AED was operating.

The district said there are 1,038 defibrillators at HISD schools. A report released on Aug. 1 showed 170 defibrillators on their campuses were not working due to dead batteries.

READ MORE: Union leaders shocked: Report showed 170 broken AEDs on HISD campuses weeks before student's death

After a student died nearly a week ago, Houston ISD is beginning to answer questions about how many of its life-saving devices aren't working.

The district claims every school has at least one working AED, with an average of three working devices per campus.

The district later clarified that the policy is to remove the non-working device and put a note saying where the nearest device is located. Houston Federation of Teachers chief of staff Corina Ortiz said that wasn't the case at Marshall Middle School.

Thursday's meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. Come back to this page for updates.

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RELATED: Retired HISD nurse claims AED battery order went unfulfilled for months: 'You're risking somebody'

A retired HISD shared she was angry to see what happened at Marshall Middle School after her struggles while working for the district.