HomeSchools & YouthKillackey Hopes Gift ‘Will Never Be Used’

Killackey Hopes Gift ‘Will Never Be Used’

GENEROUS GIFT: Michael Killackey, center, presents a check for more than $7,000 to Assistant Superintendent Linda de la Torre, right, to help purchase emergency equipment for the district’s four campuses. At left is San Marino School Board President Lisa Link. Mitch Lehman Photo

An otherwise innocuous conversation at a recent Rotary luncheon served as the launch pad for a program that might make San Marino’s four public school campuses much safer.

Rotarian Mike Killackey was chatting with San Marino Fire Chief Mario Rueda when the Chief mentioned that the city had purchased a number of what are called public access bleeding control kits that have been placed throughout the community.

“I asked him if they were going into our schools,” Killackey said on Wednesday morning. “He said that they were just for city buildings. I told him that had to change.”

Killackey responded by writing a check for more than $7,000 to the San Marino Unified School District for the purchase of 14 stations, which will soon be installed at strategic locations across all four campuses. Designed to provide bystanders and initial first responders with quick access to essential medical equipment for stopping bleeding, every campus will have access to the stations, which include blood-clotting gauze, tourniquets, and other necessary emergency supplies to quickly control bleeding in emergency situations. Once installed, each elementary school will receive three stations, while Huntington Middle School and San Marino High School will each have four.

“It’s really important for the safety of our students, teachers and staff and it’s important that we reach out and do whatever we can,” Killackey continued. “There is limited money for the schools and we each have to do what we can.”

An attorney, Killackey made the contribution through his firm, Killackey Law Offices, APC, a personal injury law firm specializing in catastrophic injury cases, which is located in Alhambra. He worked with Rueda, San Marino Police Chief John Incontro and Jim Fahey at the San Marino Unified School, District to garner recommendations for the kits and determine the number needed for each campus. Each kit provides materials to treat eight individuals who are in need.

Killackey made the donation before last week’s lockdown event at San Marino High School but acknowledged that it provided yet another grim reminder of the need for lifesaving equipment and resources.

“The safety of our students, teachers and staff in emergencies such as an active shooter situation or earthquake disaster is absolutely paramount,” Killackey said. “We hope these supplies will never be used, but we recognize an ability to provide immediate lifesaving response is crucial”

Killackey and his wife, Stefanie, live in San Marino and have students both at Huntington Middle School and Valentine Elementary School.

Killackey, a trustee on the San Marino Schools Foundation, was a candidate at the 2018 San Marino School Board election, finishing fourth among the seven candidates who were vying for three seats. Stefanie Killackey will serve as the 2019-20 president of the Valentine Elementary School PTA.

“We are thankful for everything the school district and the San Marino Fire and Police Departments do for our family and our community,” he said. “We saw this as an opportunity to give back and help them keep our campuses safe.”

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