When it comes to awareness of the need for automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at sports arenas, lacrosse players are at the top of the game.

This past weekend the 5th annual John Mack Southern Tier Shoot Out Boys Lacrosse Tournament in Union, N.Y., hosted 59 lacrosse teams and more than 800 players for the nation’s largest lacrosse tournament. The weekend event raised money to buy three or four AEDs for area sports organizations and to update AEDs already placed in the community.

The tournament has purchased more than 35 AEDs in the past four years, Robert Mack, tournament organizer, told WBNG News.

The event is named in memory of Mack’s nephew, John Mack, who died in 2007 during a lacrosse game. A blow to the chest from a lacrosse stick caused him to suffer commotio cordis, an abnormal heart rhythm. There was no AED on hand when Mack collapsed, and 19 minutes passed before paramedics arrived at the field with one. By that time the window of opportunity to restart his normal heart rhythm had passed. The 17-year-old died three days later.

John Mack came from a family of lacrosse players well-known in the New York area. The family told Lacrosse Magazine that they chose to use John’s death as an opportunity to reach out to the lacrosse community and educate people with the need for AEDs to prevent sudden cardiac arrest deaths.

Thanks to efforts like those of the Mack family, the lacrosse community is at the forefront of heart safety in sports. As part of this work, US Lacrosse partners with Cardiac Science at a national level to make Powerheart AED G3 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) available to US Lacrosse members at a highly discounted rate. Get more information on this life-saving AED program, including information on the latest AEDs packages and AED Program Management services.

Related Products

• Powerheart AED G3 Plus
• Powerheart AED G3 Fully Automatic and Semi-automatic
• Powerheart AED G3 Pro
• Powerheart AED G3 Trainer
• AED Program Management

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