The Evansville Fire Department has purchased new life-saving equipment with the help of non-profits. WNIN’s John Gibson reports:
The EFD has secured 35 new automated external defibrillators -- or AEDs -- to replace aging units firefighters are currently using.
The purchase was made possible with assistance from the Deaconess Foundation and the Beth Stevenson Memorial Foundation.
Dr. Peter Stevenson told reporters at the Fire Department that the longtime effort has made the Evansville area a more likely place to survive cardiac arrest.
He says the survival rate is more than 12%:
"12.5% — when you see that number it says gee, that's not very good but if you look everywhere across the nation it's 7.5 percent."
Dr. Stevenson stressed the importance of early CPR and the use of an AED:
"As you guys sit here I bet you've been affected probably by somebody that had a heart attack and died. Sometimes they don't need to die."
The fire department thanked the non-profits for the help.
Fire Chief Paul Anslinger says the defibrillators have a life-span of ten years, and units currently in use are 15 years old.