It has been seven years since New York State required automated external defibrillators to be placed in public schools.

But only a limited number of personnel, such as nurses, physical education teachers and coaches, are required to know how to use them.

Cheektowaga Councilman Charles Markel said he always thought it was strange that teachers do not have to learn CPR and know how to use an AED, so he is starting a campaign to have the state require teachers and other school personnel to get the necessary training as part of their certification process.

“An AED is truly a godsend, but without CPR, lives are lost,” Markel said. “Each year 167,000 people go into sudden cardiac arrest.”

Markel knows firsthand the danger of sudden cardiac arrest in a school. His son, Ryan, died Dec. 19, 2002, after his teacher noticed him floating in the school pool during gym and pulled him out. He could not be revived and was pronounced dead in St. Joseph Hospital. An autopsy attributed the death to accidental drowning.

Then, two years ago, his daughter went into cardiac arrest at home. Markel and his wife, Sandy, performed CPR until paramedics arrived with an AED, and their daughter was saved.

The Markels started Ryan’s Hope Foundation, which teaches cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillator skills, as well as pool safety.

The group has trained about 2,000 people.

“The cost of the training is about $12 a person,” he said.

The Cheektowaga Town Board on Monday night adopted a resolution put forth by Markel asking the State Legislature and Board of Regents to require the CPR and AED training. Erie County Legislator Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, is introducing similar legislation in the County Legislature.

“This resolution is important because it calls attention to a critical component in the health and safety of our children in the schools,” Kennedy said.

Markel said he is sending out letters to state assemblymen and senators, and then to all the counties in the state. Then he will address all the local governments, asking them to pass similar memorializing resolutions.

He said he understands it is not the position of a Town Board member to make state law, but he hopes that as a councilman, he can bring attention to the issue.

“It gives a teacher a chance to save a life,” he said.