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

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A retired Houston Independent School District nurse is speaking only to ABC13 angered to see what happened at Marshall Middle School a week ago.

Patricia Cook can't help but light up when she thinks of her time as a school nurse at Stevens Elementary.

"It's a lifelong love to be a school nurse and to be there," Cook explained.

Sixteen years of joy soured during her final year. It started in February 2024 when she noticed the AED batteries were dead.

"I took it off the wall," Cook recalled. "I told the admin it wasn't working, and I placed the order for the battery."

And those batteries aren't cheap; Cook says they're specialized and cost $240.

Two months later, she said no batteries arrived at Stevens Elementary.

"I said, 'This is very important,'" Cook recalled. "I said, 'You're risking somebody if you don't have the proper tools.'"

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

Cook said a secretary told her the order was canceled because of the budget. By the time she retired in May, the batteries never arrived.

"I felt like if I can't get the tools to do my job, it's time to step away because it puts me at risk and it puts the children at risk," Cook said.

ABC13 reached out to HISD about Cook's claims, and also asked if a recent report showed the batteries had been replaced at the elementary school.

So far, no response. The district said a report released this month shows nearly 20% of its AEDs aren't working.

The devices restore heartbeat. Officials said there's at least one working machine at every school, with an average of three per campus.

Last week, the issue came to light after a Marshall Middle School student died. The district said Landon Payton suffered a medical emergency.

HISD will not say if the AED was operating. Meanwhile, the Houston Federation of Teachers said the nurse grabbed it, but it wouldn't work.

"I would've been devastated, and I'm pretty sure she is too," Cook said.

HISD said all orders to fix the non-working machines are ordered, but won't say when they'll all be fixed. However, Cook said it's too late, adding that the delay in getting the parts was too much.

"If I have no control over it, then I don't want to be there," Cook explained.

It was an ending Cook wished didn't happen after more than 15 years as an HISD nurse.

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