Community Hospital provides
defibrillator
By Ken de la Bastide, The Herald Bulletin
July 14th, 2005
Linda Stevens has been training city employees in
how to perform CPR and will soon be teaching them
how to use a defibrillator.
As part of the Madison County SAVES (Support Activities
of Vital Emergency Services) program, Community Hospital
has donated a defibrillator to be placed in the City
Building.
Stevens, along with Renee Castor and Cindy Summers
in the Human Resources Department, is trained to teach
CPR. Stevens has worked for the city for 28 years
and been a CPR trainer for 14 years.
?We are developing an emergency response plan for
the City Building,? Stevens said.
The unit will be placed on the first floor of the
building. When the unit is removed from the storage
cabinet there is an audible alarm and a flashing red
light to inform people of an emergency, so that paramedics
can be called.
The machines provide a voice prompt on how to use
the equipment through the entire process. A reading
can be obtained so that doctors can be provided with
the information.
Since the SAVES program started in 2002, Community
Hospital has provided 26 defibrillators to the Madison
County Sheriff's Department for use in each patrol
car and at the jail, a unit has been placed in the
Madison County Government Center, five to the Frankton-Lapel
Community Schools and two units to the Anderson Police
Department.
Each unit costs approximately $1,800, funded by the
Community Hospital Anderson Foundation.
"CPR buys time", program director Holly
Renz said. "Early defibrillation saves lives."
There were over 400 instances of cardiac arrest incidents
in Madison County in 2003, according to Renz.
"These units will save lives," she said.
"We would like to see them everywhere."
Deputies with the Madison County Sheriff's Department
have used the defibrillators about 20 times, Renz
said.
"No lives have been saved yet," she said,
"but it only takes once. All we need is people
willing to learn how to use the equipment." |
