(The following appeared on the Boston Globe website on February 2, 2009.)
BOSTON — Automated external defibrillators, life-saving equipment used to revive cardiac arrest victims, will be available to aid passengers on the commuter rail system, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company plan to announce today. Commuter rail personnel are being trained to use the portable medical device, an MBTA advisory said. Lydia Rivera, a spokeswoman for the MBTA, acknowledged a 2002 death in which a Wellesley scientist was unable to reach medical help on a commuter train as it continued to pick up passengers for 20 minutes.