Click the link for the video for this great St. Cloud outdoor public AED program working to solve inaccessability.
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https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/...ts-more-aed-access-minnesota/3094016002/SARTELL — If you needed a defibrillator to save someone's life, would you know where to find one?
Sudden cardiac arrest is more common than you may think — it could happen unexpectedly during everyday tasks like mowing the lawn or playing a sport, like the hockey player who went into cardiac arrest on the ice last month.
That hockey player survived because a fellow player knew CPR — and because the rink had an automated external defibrillator (AED).
Some Central Minnesota residents are taking the fate of their hearts into their own hands and pushing for more access to AEDs, especially outdoors where they can be accessed at all times.
"If you live in your house, do you know where the closest AED is?" asked Joel Vogel, a member of the local Mended Hearts chapter. "I found it, but it’s in a locked building."
Stearns Sheriff Steve Soyka and Mended Hearts Member Joel Vogel talked about upping access to AEDs on March 11, 2019.
Vogel got involved with Mended Hearts after he had a heart attack 15 years ago. Since then he's run a golf tournament that raises money for Mended Hearts, a nonprofit support group for heart patients. The events have supported the placement of 26 AEDs across Central Minnesota since 2012.
Only three outdoors and accessible 24/7 — one in Sartell's Pine Point neighborhood and two along Long Lake near Clearwater.
"If you don’t get to someone within five minutes with an AED, the chances aren’t very good at all," he said. "Our goal is to have St. Cloud be one of the safest places to live with AEDs."
Joel Vogel, a member of Mended Hearts, talks about the effort to get more AEDs outdoors and accessible 24/7 on March 11, 2019.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute describes sudden cardiac arrest as a condition in which "the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating."
"A sudden cardiac arrest is a sudden electrical problem with your heart... and a heart attack is a plumbing problem," said Rich Feneis.
Feneis lives in Pine Point neighborhood, and is the person behind what he and Vogel were told was the first outdoor AED in Minnesota.
"The more I got thinking about it I just thought, there’s gotta be a way of putting AEDs outside," he said.
So, Feneis applied for a grant through CentraCare and started working with its Take Heart Program to make it happen.
"About 90 percent of cardiac arrests happen outside of the hospital," said Sharon Mentzer, program manager. "So they’re happening in our homes and public settings...Currently right now, the AEDs that are housed are in businesses and are (only) accessible when the businesses are open. So there’s a limitation there."
This is why Feneis and Vogel want to get more outdoor AEDs and take the ones inside businesses now and move them outside for people to access around the clock.
"80 percent of heart attacks happen in the home," Feneis said. "So it makes even more sense to have AEDs in neighborhoods where the homes are."
Mentzer said the interested neighborhoods raise their own funds for the cabinets that house the AEDs, and CentraCare grants them the actual device.
She said the cost of the cabinets can be $3,500 to $6,000. Feneis said the projects for Pine Point and Long Lake cost about $5,500 for each "smart cabinet." This includes the electrical setup and monitoring costs, as the cabinets check the battery and pads automatically every day to ensure they're working. He said he cabinet in Pine Point worked through the polar vortex.
When someone goes to use the AED, it takes a picture of the person who opened it and immediately calls 911.
"They also have a feature where you can program different neighbors’ telephone numbers," Feneis said. "It will also notify 10-15 of your neighbors so they can come to your aid."
Each AED comes with detailed instructions spoken through the defibrillator when opened, and includes information about current location and what will happen if used.
Feneis said the instructions are clear and the devices are user-friendly.
"It’s such a compelling argument to have more AEDs," he said. "If you’ve never had any training at all (the video) will walk you right through it and you could save a life."
As the next step, Stearns County Sheriff Steve Soyka said he is looking to build a comprehensive map of AEDs.
"Just knowing where they all are is beneficial to saving lives," he said.
Soyka has been working with Vogel on the project. Now he's calling on Central Minnesotans to find where their nearest AED is to build a full list, which would help first responders and everyday residents in an emergency.
"There just is not a map or an app out there that shows the nearest one," said Feneis. "So if you have a sudden cardiac arrest – 911 doesn’t even know where these all are."
