Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association’s Big Sky Chapter Leader Daniel Turell with Laurel Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brent Peters and the Powerheart AED donated by the Duran family. (Photo: by Jennifer Ries)

The Laurel, Montana, Volunteer Fire Department has a new automated external defibrillator (AED), thanks to fundraising events hosted by the family of the late Leo Duran and to participation by Cardiac Science. Leo Duran, active in the local Jaycees, died in May 2011 after he was stricken by sudden cardiac arrest.

Daniel Turrell, leader of the Big Sky chapter of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association (SCAA), and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joanne Flynn attended the ceremony at which the AED was presented to the fire department. Turrell, a former New York firefighter and EMT,  demonstrated the unit to a group that included Chief Brent Peters, Training Officer J.W. Hopper, and Ambulance Service Director Jan Faught and EMT Miguel Hernandez.

For more information on Montana AEDs, please contact AED specialist Kelly Lucas.

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

The webinar “AEDs: Increasing Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survival Rates in Your Community” is now available as a free archived download on the Firehouse.com website.

This is an hour-long presentation by AED experts Michael Schwartz, battalion chief with the North Lake Tahoe Fire District, and Doug Randell, EMS training officer with the St. Louis Fire Department’s Public Access to Defibrillation (PAD) program.

Battalion Chief Michael Schwartz

EMS Training Officer Doug Randell

Schwartz, vice-president elect of Nevada Project Heartbeat, explains how his department helped lead the creation of an AED program for the popular resort region of North Lake Tahoe. North Lake Tahoe now has one of the country’s highest survival rates for sudden cardiac arrest. Schwartz tells how they planned, launched, and now manage, that successful program.

Randell talks about the challenges of managing one of the largest urban PAD programs in the country. He shares his expertise in AED training, deployment and equipment maintenance — critical issues for PAD programs in communities of any size.

Schwartz and Randell both provide valuable insights on ways to fund AED purchases and related training and maintenance activities.

You can access this webinar, sponsored by Cardiac Science and Firehouse.com, on the Firehouse.com website.

Find out at this free webinar Sept. 14

How did the community of North Lake Tahoe become one of the safest places in the U.S. to experience sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)? The Sept. 14 webinar “AEDs: Increasing Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survival Rates in Your Community” explains, step by step, how this community equipped itself to save lives with automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

Battalion Chief Michael Schwartz

EMS Training Officer Doug Randell

The webinar sponsored by Cardiac Science and Firehouse.com lets you hear directly from Battalion Chief Michael Schwartz of the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District and from EMS Training Officer Doug Randell, who manages the St. Louis Fire Department’s Public Access to Defibrillation (PAD) program — one of the largest PAD programs in the country.

Schwartz, vice-president elect of Nevada Project Heartbeat, will talk about how his department played a leading role in preparing the the North Lake Tahoe community to save more lives. Randell, an expert on AED training, deployment, and equipment maintenance, will share best best practices on how to create a heartsafe community, large or small.

Attendees will learn how to launch and manage Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs in their own communities, and find out ways to stretch limited funds to equip their departments with AEDs.

“AEDs: Increasing Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survival Rates in Your Community”

September 14, 2011, 2 p.m. EDT

Sign up for this webinar today at the Firehouse.com website.

Connor Freed, age 5, died from drowning at a community pool in Crofton, Maryland on June 5, 2006. In the aftermath of his death, his parents dedicated themselves to raising awareness of pool safety and improving safety conditions at Maryland pools. Their mission includes equipping pools with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and ensuring that lifeguards are trained to use the machines.

A Powerheart AED G3 donated by the Connor Cares Foundation. (Photo: Michelle Stephenson)

Debbie Naegle-Freed, Connor’s mother, told the Edgewater-Davidson Patch online news site that the Connor Cares Foundation hopes to provide a defibrillator to every pool in Anne Arundel County — and has the goal of improving pool safety state and nationwide. This year the foundation has provided defibrillators for three area pools.

The foundation also works closely with Maryland State Senator Katherine Klausmeier to advance legislation that would require AEDs at county or municipal pools.

For more information on Maryland AEDs, please contact AED expert Cheryl Anne DeHart.

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

BurkePatch.com reports that hundreds of runners took to the streets for the first annual Adam’s Angels 5K run. The race, last month in Fairfax, Virginia, honored the memory of local student athlete and artist Adam Seymour. Adam died of sudden cardiac arrest last August after he collapsed during a training run with his college soccer team.

Steve Nicholas demonstrates CPR and AED use to some of Adam's Angels (Photo: Meg Bryant)

Adam’s family has formed the Adam P. Seymour Foundation, which supports heart research, provides scholarships for student athletes, and raises money for automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) through events such as the 5K run and silent auction.

In June the foundation partnered with the Gregory W. Moyer Defibrillator Fund and Cardiac Science to promote awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and the use of CPR and AEDs to increase a victim’s chances of survival.

Cardiac Science has donated three Powerheart G3 AEDs to the foundation, one of which will be placed at the Robinson Secondary School athletic field. During the week leading up to the road race, Cardiac Science AED specialist Steve Nicholas conducted demonstrations of AEDs for Adam’s Angels and others in the community.

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

The Casey Weekly news site reports that $150,000 in private funds has been pledged to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for football clubs in Victoria, Australia.

A map of the campaign to put AEDs at football clubs throughout Victoria.

An AED campaign with the slogan “Defib your club, for life” began May 28. It marked the one-year anniversary of the death of local footballer Stephen Buckman. Buckman, 19, collapsed and died of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during training. Paramedic Andrew White, who plays for the same Rupertswood club as Buckman, had attempted to resuscitate his teammate, but was unsuccessful. No AED was available.

That experience led White to lobby the government and businesses for AEDs. In the year since Buckman’s death, two other Victoria football figures, one a coach and one a 22-year-old player, have died of sudden cardiac arrest at their clubs.

Cardiac Science is a proud sponsor of the “Defib Your Club, for Life” campaign, joining more than a dozen national, regional, and local organizations in the effort to reduce deaths from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in Victoria.

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

Cardiac Science is among the partners in HeartSafe Northland, a new program to increase heart safety in Minnesota’s Twin Ports region.

Program goals include getting more automated external defibrillators (AEDs) into the community, training people in CPR and AED use, and creating a registry of available AEDs.

HeartSafe Northland will get more AEDs into the community, train people in CPR and AED use, and create an AED registry.

Business leaders in the area have a heightened awareness of sudden cardiac arrest because of a 2008 incident involving a local business owner. BusinessNorth.com reports that in 2008 Rick Rockwood of Rockwood Insurance collapsed after a pickup basketball game. A bystander began CPR, and the Duluth Fire Department revived Rockwood using an AED.

The proposed AED registry will make it possible for 911 operators to guide potential rescuers to the nearest AEDs. Duluth Fire Chief John Strongitharm told the Duluth News Tribune that city officials have realized the need for the registry to improve response times.

“Even with a two- or three-minute response time, the minutes that have already passed are really precious when someone goes into cardiac arrest,” Strongitharm said. “We’re lucky to have the St. Louis County dispatchers on board with this idea.”

Partners in HeartSafe Northland include Arrowhead EMS Association, Cardiac Science, the Superior-Douglas County Chamber, city of Duluth, city of Superior, Duluth Chamber of Commerce, Duluth Police Department, Gold Cross, Hermantown Chamber of Commerce, St. Luke’s hospital and the Superior Fire Department.

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

As we recently reported, Cardiac Science won the contract for the first major public access defibrillation program in Spain. Spain becomes the first European country to have a wide network of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to act immediately in sudden cardiac arrest emergencies.

According to Dipsalut, Public Health organization of the Girona Council (Organismo de Salud Pública de la Diputación de Girona), today only two survive out of every hundred people who suffer a sudden death in the street. It is estimated that the installation of defibrillators for public use can increase the survival rate to 20 or 25 percent.

Dipsalut presented the Cardiac Science AED G3 Plus defibrillator in a briefing with mayors of the province at Technology Park of Girona. Dipsalut introduced the “Girona cardioprotegit territory,” the network of up to 650 defibrillators for public use in the municipalities of the province.

The network will include 500 “intelligent” AED cabinets. When someone opens a cabinet to access an AED, a signal is automatically sent to alert the local emergency medical response team.

Most of the fully automatic Cardiac Science AEDs will be deployed in streets or public squares. Other defibrillators will be used to protect high-risk facilities such as sports centers, train stations, airports and bus stations.

See a video of the Girona cardioprotegit territory event:

In Colombia, Cardiac Science distributor Incav Technologies has launched Proyecto Latir (“Project Heartbeat”), providing free CPR/AED training courses to help people respond to sudden cardiac arrest.

Dr. Cesar Rodriguez, scientific director for the Proyecto Latir, on one of the projects AED training videos on YouTube.

“In its first year, Proyecto Latir has taught dozens of courses to private companies, hospitals and government agencies,” says Diego Orjuela, managing partner with Incav Colombia. “Proyecto Latir  seeks to give back to our community. We find there is an enormous need for basic CPR and trauma training in a country that is vulnerable to violence as well as natural catastrophes. We have offered free training in a number of key public buildings in Colombia’s capital city, Bogota.”

Dr. Cesar Rodriguez, a leading authority on resuscitation, serves as scientific director for the project. Dr. Rodriguez is a certified instructor in BLS, ACLS, ACLS EP, PALS, PHTLS, PHTLS for Military, NALS, Fenix III, Advanced Trauma, and Obstetric and Pediatric Trauma. He has taught more than 300 CPR and Trauma courses in Colombia alone.

Proyecto Latir recently conducted an advanced CPR course for nurses in one of Colombia’s leading hospitals, Clinica el Country. Learn more about Proyecto Latir on its YouTube channel.

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

Great Plains Ag Credit leaders receive Phelps-Martin Award for Project HeartSafe (Photo: Farm Credit Council)

The award-winning HeartSafe project developed by Great Plains Ag Credit has provided more than 70 Powerheart G3 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to first responders and other key public safety agencies in the Texas Panhandle.

GPAC Board Chairman Dennis Anthony and CEO Tim McDonald received the Phelps-Martin Award for the successful project. The Phelps-Martin Awards, established in memory of two leaders of the national Farm Credit Council, include an award for service to the greater community.

The HeartSafe program is a joint effort of Great Plains Ag Credit, Cardiac Science, Cardiology Center of Amarillo (Texas), and KVII-TV. The project makes Powerheart AEDs available at reduced cost to businesses, organizations, and individuals, as well as to law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services agencies that provide first responder services.

In accepting the award, McDonald said that the community has already seen the life-saving results of Project HeartSafe. Last year, a former Great Plains Ag Credit employee who received CPR training through the project, used CPR on his wife, who had suffered sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in their home. He administered CPR until emergency medical services arrived.

McDonald noted that AEDs for first responders are particularly critical in rural areas such as the Texas Panhandle.

“Medical help can be up to an hour away, and many government agencies don’t have the budgets to purchase AEDs for their first responders,” he said.

Eddie Martin, marketing manager for Cardiac Science’s Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) program, described Great Plains Project HeartSafe as “a great example of businesses working together to create a heartsafe community.”

For more information on AEDs in New Mexico, West Texas, and South Texas, contact AED specialist Wally Rogers.

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