Racers run for Robbie in Merrick

Despite morning drizzle and an overcast sky, more than 900 runners came to a Merrick elementary school yesterday for Robbie's Run, a race that raises money to provide defibrillators for youth sports fields.

The 5K run commemorates Robbie Levine, the 9-year-old son of Jill and Dr. Craig Levine, who died during Little League practice in 2005. Last year's event raised $35,000 to promote and purchase automated external defibrillators, or AEDs; this year's raised "significantly more," organizers said.

"I got a little nervous when it started drizzling, but it's stopped now, so I'm feeling good," said Jill Levine, who operates the Forever 9 Foundation in her son's memory.

Craig Levine's uncle, Julian Levine, 63, who traveled from Midland Park, N.J., said he admired his relatives' ability to turn tragedy into a movement.

"No parent wants to bury their child," he said, but "tragedy strengthened their family. They came up with the idea to use it to help other people."

The Levines' foundation is part of a growing movement to make defibrillators widely available. New York State law requires that schools, health clubs and many public buildings have AEDs on hand; there was one in the school near the field where Robbie died, though his father has said it was not accessible.

The American Heart Association says up to a quarter of the nearly 200,000 deaths from sudden cardiac arrest might be prevented through access to AEDs.

New York's law was passed after the 2000 death of an East Northport lacrosse goalie.

But a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that AEDs had a greater than 20 percent chance of being recalled for potential defects. And some experts believe that other initiatives could give government and nonprofits more bang for their buck.

"There are interventions with proven ... positive health impacts that are not reaching 100 percent of the children," including immunization and water treatment, said John Clymer, President of Partnership for Prevention, a Washington, D.C.- based nonprofit that advocates preventive medicine. "I'm sure this is a very well-intended effort," Clymer said, adding that officials and donors should consider risk factors such as age in deciding where to spend limited public health resources.

Among recent initiatives to introduce AEDs to public spaces is a Nevada partnership with Cardiac Science Corp. That choice of a "preferred manufacturer" points to another group benefiting from the push for AED access: Cardiac Science reported a 41 percent jump in AED sales in the fourth quarter of 2006.

But for Robbie Levine's parents and the thousands who came out for Sunday's fundraiser, the effort is worthwhile.

"It's like we're being guided to get these [defibrillators] out everywhere," Craig Levine said, referring to his experience saving a patient with an AED last week. "It was like a wake-up call to me."