COLUMBIA, S.C. — The American Heart Association of the Midlands will be able to put automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in local parks and recreation centers thanks to a donation.
The organization received a donation of $25,000 from the Jim Hudson Foundation to put ten automatic electronic defibrillators in parks in Columbia and Lexington.
“Heart disease is still the number one killer of all Americans. We shared earlier that 23,000 youth will suffer a cardiac arrest this year,” said Crystal Kirkland, the executive director of the American Heart Association in the Midlands.
“Six of those are going to the city of Columbia with parks and recreation and the additional four will be going to Lexington county so they’ll be viable in our parks and in the event of an emergency we will have every protocol in place,” she said.
According to the AHA, it is not required by law to have AEDs in parks. These life-saving devices are used to help re-establish a heartbeat in sudden cases of cardiac arrest.
“The AEDs are now so advanced that they will tell you where to put the probes, when to press the button and walk you through it and should make a very simple process for anyone involved,” Kirkland said.
Park officials say this a proactive measure they're taking to keep community members safe.
"This will give the additional reassurance of citizen when they visit our park that it’s safe and that they’re in good hands,” Randy Davis, director of Parks and Recreation City of Columbia, said.
The donation was on behalf of the Jim Hudson foundation
“We thought this would be a great way to partner with them to provide ten AEDs, not only the ten AEDs but also training with the AEDs and how to use those as well as CPR training which we know is vital if someone goes into cardiac arrest,” Keith Hudson said.
Park officials look forward to helping keep communities safe.
“We want to make sure that citizens when they visit our park that they are free to enjoy the experience and know that they are safe in our parks and recreation facilities,” Davis said.
