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Carrollton installs life-saving defibrillators in park facilities

A red and white Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is on a brick wall at a recreation facility in Carrollton. A green sports field is in the background.
Courtesy
/
City of Carrollton
Carrollton has installed eight Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) at park and recreation facilities around the city.

It was while attending her son’s soccer game in an adjacent town that Kim Bybee, parks manager for the city of Carrollton, got an idea that she hopes will save lives. She saw that the park’s sports complex had what looked like a cabin —and inside was an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

“I thought it was kind of a neat concept,” Bybee said. “Because the way we were running our AEDs, they were in the concession restroom buildings, but they were only accessible if they were being staffed.”

Bybee liked the idea of having AEDs available to the public 24/7 if an incident occurred.

“I went to my counterparts at Fire and Rescue and brought up the idea,” she said, “and we kind of started looking into it to see what options we had,” she said.

Fast forward to two years later, and Carrollton has installed eight SaveStations around city. Each one contains an Avive Connect AED that automatically notifies emergency dispatchers when the AED is deployed. By placing the SaveStations in public parks and recreational areas, city officials hope to bridge the critical gap between the time 911 is called and when EMTs arrive.

Carrollton Fire Rescue Chief Michael Thomson said the Avive component of the AED is a game changer when every second counts.

“Every minute that goes by your chance of survival drops,” he said. "We're trying to minimize the time that it takes for people to start by standard CPR as well as to initiate a defibrillation if needed, so that that person hopefully has been resuscitated prior to the fire department and the paramedics arriving.”

Research published by the American Heart Association found early defibrillation is “the most important intervention” for patients experiencing a heart attack outside of a hospital setting, and that what’s known as a public access defibrillation program results in a roughly 40% survival rate.

Although Carrollton offers free AED and CPR classes, Thomson said training isn’t necessary to use these particular AEDs.

“It's very, very simple. You don't have to have any training at all,” he said. “Once you pull the pads out, it tells you exactly what to do. There's pictures on it, so it's very visual. You can tell exactly where to put the pads.”

Once the pads are applied, the AED analyzes whether a heart rhythm has been detected or whether administering a shock is required. It will then prompt the user through the next steps in the process.

There are also QR codes that users can scan to get more information about what these units are.

The eight SafeStation cabinets were installed in August, and both Bybee and Thomson hope they can potentially expand these efforts to other parts of the city.

The cabinets are currently housed in the Josey Ranch and McInnish sports complexes and the Oak Hills and W.J. Thomas Splash parks.

Carrollton is among the first cities in the state and the country to install Save Station cabinets with the Avive component.

A heart for community and storytelling is what Priscilla Rice is passionate about.