This year, Berkeley High School marked the 40th anniversary of the death of basketball player Greg Brown with the installation of seven permanent and three portable automated external defibrillators (AED) at Berkeley High School. Greg Brown collapsed while playing in a Berkeley High game in 1974. During a ceremony that took place at a recent BHS basketball game, BHS parent Dr. Cindy Chang, Greg’s classmates from the Class of 1974, Berkeley Police and Fire Departments, and School Board and City Council representatives gathered to remember Greg and recognize the installation of the AEDs that now enhance health and safety for BHS students and faculty.
Cindy Chang, former head team physician at UC Berkeley and doctor to Team USA at the 2012 London Olympics, led the effort over the past three years to bring AEDs to the high school. She solicited donations for seven permanent and three portable AEDs, now available throughout the school day as well as nights and weekends for athletic events. An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable device that checks the heart rhythm. If needed, it can send an electric shock to the heart to try to restore a normal rhythm.
Greg Brown’s teammates and classmates from the Class of 1974 established the Greg Brown Memorial Fund in his memory, and the fund will maintain the AED program.
See Photos of BHS Basketball Vs San Leandro High Feb 7, 2014