Lifesaving AEDs Donated to Northland Groups
Posted at: 10/10/2012 6:39 PM
| Updated at: 10/10/2012 10:29 PM
By: Alan Hoglund
Thanks to some good work by a Duluth area volunteer group, 12 lifesaving devices are being given to churches, community centers and emergency responders across the Northland.
Heartbeat Northland donated 12 automated external defibrillators, or AEDs Wednesday afternoon.
According to a news release, the AEDs are part of a grant program sponsored by the group which launched in May of 2011. At $1,500 each, they were bought with proceeds from a live karaoke competition that was held in Duluth over the summer.
The news release says the AEDs are going to:
- Arrowhead Youth Soccer Association in Duluth
- Backus Community Center in International Falls
- Boys and Girls Club Lincoln Park in Duluth
- Duluth Children's Museum
- Duluth YMCA Aquatics
- First United Methodist Church in Duluth
- Grand Lake Community Center
- Midway Township Community Hall
- Mont du Lac Ski Patrol in Superior
- Proctor Area Community Church
- Salem Lutheran Church in Mahtowa
- YMCA Camp Miller in Duluth
The Northland Chapter of the American Red Cross tells Eyewitness News that sudden cardiac arrest claim 400,000 lives every year. Executive Director Judy Golzalez says "we had 35 applications for the 12 units, which points out the tremendous interest in saving lives through defibrillation and CPR, as well as the need for more AED units."
Kim Harkins with the Minnesota Resuscitation Consortium says sudden cardiac arrest is the number one cause of death in Americans. "We know when a person suddenly collapses, if no one starts CPR and an AED isn't applied within the first few minutes their chance of survival diminishes significantly."
Harkins said "part of our goal is to increase that survival rate throughout Minnesota."
Heartbeat Northland is a group developed by the Northland Chapter of the American Red Cross and focuses on training to save lives after cardiac arrest.
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