COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- A local school district is receiving a grant to purchase an automatic external defibrillator (AED), courtesy of Centura Health’s “Jumpstart a Heart” Community Outreach Program.
A Flight For Life helicopter will deliver an AED to Fountain-Fort Carson School District #8 Administrative Offices at 10:45 a.m., Friday, April 24.
The AED will be presented to Superintendent Cheryl Walker and school board member Jill Grubbs by Keathe Hanley, Director of Cardiovascular Services with Penrose-St. Francis Health Services.
“The goal of the program is to educate people about the importance of AEDs and how they save lives in our communities,” Hanley said.
An AED is a portable defibrillator used to deliver an electric shock to a person suffering sudden cardiac arrest. AEDs are easy to operate and guide users with voice prompts. Awareness of AEDs is increasing and, as a result, more AEDs are being placed in malls, schools, community centers, on ski mountains and in the workplace.
Approximately 74 percent of people would survive sudden cardiac arrest if bystanders call 911 and begin CPR, and if trained responders provide defibrillation within minutes.
For every minute without CPR and defibrillation, the odds of survival decrease seven to 10 percent.
For more information about the “Jumpstart a Heart” program, sudden cardiac arrest, AEDS, and a grant application for non-profits, please visit www.CenturaHeart.org.
Information provided by Penrose St. Francis Health Services
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