City will jumpstart your heart

Automatic defibrillator equipment was installed at five city-owned buildings across the island this week in an effort to increase safety.

“Installation of the defibrillators is an important step in the city’s ongoing emergency preparedness activities,” said Bainbridge Island Police Chief Matt Haney. “With these devices in place, we are better able to protect the health of our employees and our citizens.”

According to the American Heart Association, early defibrillation can raise survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest by over 30 percent. For every minute that passes without defibrillation, the chance of survival decreases by 10 percent.

Defibrillator equipment should be operated by individuals who are medical professionals or who have been trained in CPR, according to city officials. The equipment is fully automated and portable so that it may be taken to the site of a heart attack. Each unit provides step-by-step voice commands for operation.

Defibrillator units are now located at City Hall (outside Council Chambers), the police station, the senior center, the municipal courthouse and the city’s Day Road maintenance facility.

The equipment is accessible during normal business hours at each location. The city has at least two trained staff at each site, and is planning additional staff trainings.

State PBDE ban approved

A proposed ban on toxic flame retardants passed the state Legislature this week.

Co-sponsored by Sen. Phil Rockefeller, Senate Bill 5034 would restrict the use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, commonly referred to as PBDEs.

“The levels of PBDEs are doubling every four years in Puget Sound,” said Rockefeller, a Bainbridge Democrat. “We’re seeing levels rise in harbor seals, orcas and in our communities.”

A companion bill passed the House before the Senate approved the measure by a 41 to eight vote.

PBDEs are commonly used in everyday electronic products, such as computers, televisions and compact disc players. Furniture also contains high levels of PBDEs.

Highly pervasive, tests have shown levels of PBDEs in household dust and the breast milk of Puget Sound women.

“That’s pretty scary,” said the bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Debbie Regala. “It’s also known to cause memory loss and learning impairment on animals in lab studies.”

The bill, if signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire, would be the first law of its kind in the United States.

The proposal includes prohibitions on the sale, manufacture and distribution of most products containing PBDEs.

Regala, a Tacoma Democrat, congratulated Rockefeller and other senators for helping to push the bill through.

“When it comes to health and the environment, Washington has set the gold standard,” she said.

-Tristan Baurick

Girls charged in lip gloss case

Two Bainbridge girls who allegedly tried to sicken their teacher pleaded not guilty this week to third-degree assault charges, according to the Kitsap County prosecutor’s office.

The girls, both 12-year-old Sakai Intermediate School students, were arrested March 29 after they allegedly applied strawberry lip gloss to their 58-year-old teacher’s coffee cup and water bottle knowing it might cause an allergic reaction.

Police said the girls hatched the plot to get out of class.

Prosecuting and defense attorneys will meet April 16 to decide whether to go to a full trial.

–Chad Schuster