Portable automated external defibrillators long have been essential tools for jump-starting the hearts of sudden cardiac arrest victims. But at $1,650 each, many organizations can’t afford them.
Enter HeartSaver. Since 2014, the program has funded nearly 900 AEDs for first responders, schools, churches, nonprofits, and community organizations in 13 counties across Southwestern Indiana and Western Kentucky. Recipients have included everything from the USS LST-325 to emergency response vehicles to Burdette Park BMX.
The list keeps growing.
“When we began this effort in 2014, we thought if we placed 50 AEDs, we would have enough in the community. Imagine our shock when we learned that figure barely scratched the surface of the need,” says HeartSaver committee chair Kirsten Wagmeister.
HeartSaver also provides training for each agency receiving an AED. Officials have documented at least 20 lives that the program’s AED donations have saved.
“We call these devices ‘miracles in a box’ because they diagnose whether there is a shockable rhythm, and if there is even the slightest detection, then a shock will be delivered. Human hands cannot determine that,” Wagmeister says.
A recent donation was sparked by tragedy. Henderson, Kentucky, fourth-grader Luciana “Lucy” Nash died Aug. 13 after collapsing at school from sudden cardiac arrest. In response, HeartSaver in October donated an AED to each Henderson County school in her memory.
“Lucy’s life and death remind us that cardiac events strike all ages and often without any warning,” Wagmeister says. “An AED must be present and available wherever large groups of people gather because one never knows when it will be needed.”
