Nonprofit organization donates lifesaving equipment to local fire department - East Idaho News
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Nonprofit organization donates lifesaving equipment to local fire department

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Heroes Defense and the Idaho Falls Fire Department with new AEDs. | Andrea Olson, EastIdahoNews.com

IDAHO FALLS — A nonprofit organization donated $28,000 to a local fire department to help pay for new lifesaving equipment for individuals experiencing cardiac arrest in the community.

On Wednesday, Heroes Defense presented 15 new automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to the Idaho Falls Fire Department after purchasing them with the money the organization donated.

An AED is a portable device that automatically analyzes abnormal life-threatening heart rhythms and then delivers an electric shock to the victim to return the heart to a regular rhythm.

AEDS
The new AEDs. | Andrea Olson, EastIdahoNews.com

“We are lucky enough to be receiving a bunch of AEDs from Heroes Defense,” said Duane Nelson, fire chief with the Idaho Falls Fire Department. “This is several years in the making, (it) probably wouldn’t have happened now without their assistance.”

According to its website, “Heroes Defense provides support, resources, and aid to those individuals fighting for our freedoms and the American way of life. Heroes Defense, organized by Paul Davis and Qal-Tek Associates, stands to defend our nation’s heroes and ensure their bravery is both recognized and rewarded.”

“Heroes Defense was created for this exact purpose, to show our first responders that their community truly cares about and supports them in the critical jobs they perform every day,” said Garrett Meikle, founder of Heroes Defense in a news release. “We are proud to be a conduit between the public and those responders, to help raise funds to quickly provide desperately needed equipment, training, and other resources.”

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The money donated to the Idaho Falls Fire Department that purchased the AEDs came from a 9/11 fundraising banquet and auction that Heroes Defense put on last year. In three hours, around $140,000 was raised.

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“We are very happy to be having these. They (the AEDs) have a 10-year lifespan and so we can expect these to be in the community for a full decade and that’s usually the time the technology has improved and changed enough that you need to switch them out,” said Eric Day, Idaho Falls Fire Department EMS Division Chief.

According to a news release, the Idaho Falls Fire Department responded to 130 cardiac arrests in 2021. 

“From the moment the patient is hooked up to the monitors in our ambulances, that information is being transmitted to the hospital. This is why these new AEDs are so important; they seamlessly interface with our current monitors. We extend our sincere gratitude to Heroes Defense and everybody involved in the fundraising efforts,” said Day in a news release.

An app can help individuals in the community to locate an AED in times of need. The PulsePoint Smartphone App works in conjunction with dispatching software, alerting users to a cardiac emergency at the same time first responders are alerted. The application also shows the user where the closest AED is located. 

“CPR and the use of an AED, when indicated, especially in the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest, can double a person’s chance of survival,” Day said in a release.

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