A.E.D. (Automatic External Defibrillator)
MAJESTIC ISLES COMMUNITY TAKES LEAD TO SAVE LIVES
On April 10, 2000, Majestic Isles launched an automatic external defibrillator program that is quite unique in southern Florida.
Majestic Isles is a small community of 450 households. The members of the community, seeing the need for rapid defibrillation in the case of sudden cardiac arrest, contributed to a fund to purchase a defibrillator and to provide training for a group of volunteers. Within a short time, 150 residents volunteered to become first-responders. During March 2000, the Palm Beach County Firefighter and Paramedics trained our volunteers in both CPR, cardio pulmonary resuscitation and AED, automatic external defibrillation.
What makes this program so unique is that a team of on-call volunteers has pledged to remain in the community for a 24-hour period once every 60 days. They carry with them the defibrillator as well as a dedicated community cell phone. Each phone in every home has a sticker that reads: “In an emergency, dial 911, then dial the cell phone number.” The first responder volunteer can be to any home in the community within 2 to 4 minutes. If the Fire-Rescue Company is not on the scene yet, they will begin the emergency procedures until they are relieved.
At the first community meeting about this program, a resident whose late husband had devoted his entire adult life helping to save lives in various emergency services, made a pledge to donate a second defibrillator in addition to the one the community was going to purchase. This unit is kept in a cabinet in the clubhouse convenient to the tennis courts, the exercise rooms, the pool and the social hall and is available to all of the trained volunteers.
Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in America. Each year it strikes more than 350,000 Americans, nearly 1,000 per day. Most die before reaching the hospital because the chance for survival decreases by 10% for every minute that passes before help arrives. Early response is critical!
For more information on this program, please call Don Horowitz at 561-733-4020, or 516-454-8118 from June 1st until September 15th. For more information on automatic external defibrillators, contact the American Red Cross at 561 833-8771 or the American Heart Association at 561-655-8155.