AED devices installed in businesses
By Calli Price (from Truman Index) Published: Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Northeast Missouri Heart Health has teamed up with Professor Janice Young’s Health 440 class this semester to start a media campaign for the installation of Automated External Defibrillators in businesses around Kirksville.AEDs are machines used to assist someone who has gone into sudden cardiac arrest, meaning their heart has stopped functioning normally. In the past, this usually is seen in older adults. However, younger adults, like college students, are becoming at-risk for sudden cardiac arrest.
A few years ago, a woman suffered sudden cardiac arrest near A.T. Still University’s campus. When taken to A.T. Still by a friend, there was no public AED device. This was the “kickoff to the whole AED public access campaign,” said Lisa Archer, quality improvement coordinator at Northeast Regional Medical Center.
Seniors Anna Grinter, Kristen Siegler, Taylor Hockman and Jenna Osseck have been working on the campaign this semester as part of their senior capstone project. Their efforts include creating posters, business packets, radio and television PSAs and a mascot to represent the NEMO Heart Health organization.
“We’re proud of this project and we’re doing all that we can for it,” Grinter said. “We’re excited about what’s going to come of it.”
NEMO Heart Health has worked more than four years on the installation of AEDs all around Kirksville. This is the first time a project like this has taken place in Kirksville.
The cost of each device is $1,620, creating a financial burden that NEMO Heart Health has worked to raise money for, said Lisa Archer, Before they took on the role of fundraising, there was only one AED located on Truman’s campus in the security car.
After multiple fundraising events, A.T. Still’s campus received four AEDs, which were installed two weeks ago. Since then, multiple businesses have agreed to house AEDs, and helped with fundraising to acquire money to purchase one, including DuKum Inn Bar and Grille.
“We started looking into them four years ago,” said Craig Shorten, owner of DuKum. “I thought that would be great to put one in here. I hate the thought of something happening to someone and not having the resources to help them.”
The AED at DuKum Inn was unveiled last Tuesday. Eight DuKum employees took a BLS/AED training class, certifying them to administer CPR and to use the AED. NEMO Heart Health and Northeast Regional Medical Center have teamed up to offer free training for free to six employees of each businesses that buys or receives AEDs.
Other locations that received AEDs include City Hall, which installed theirs last Friday, and Hy-Vee, which unveiled theirs Monday.
“I think the message we’re sending is that it’s going to make Kirksville and all the businesses a heart-safe place to shop and eat, and to make Kirksville a safer place overall as a community,” Archer said.
NEMO Heart Health’s goal is to have 50 AEDs placed in businesses throughout Kirksville within the next five years. Efforts currently are being made to place AEDs at the Kirksville Regional Airport and the Adair County Courthouse.