The St. Croix Foundation gave out six portable battery-operated automated external defibrillators (AED) to be placed in St. Croix parks, Government House and the island’s police commands Thursday, gifts that will literally save lives.
Cher Will, who heads the foundation project to raise money and buy the devices, is on a mission to have the $1,600 lifesaving devices installed all over the island and in the arsenal of all emergency first responders. At a short ceremony in Government House on St. Croix Thursday afternoon, Will said cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR just buys a little time and the defibrillators are the only real hope for heart attack victims.
If you or someone around you has a sudden heart attack, the number one cause of death in the U.S., "the survival time from collapse to defibrillation is ten minutes," Will said. "Within those ten minutes, each minute that passes reduces the chance of survival by 10 percent. Without CPR the survival rate is zero. With CPR alone the survival rate is six percent, and with CPR followed by defibrillation with an AED the survival rate is 49 to 74 percent. …On St. Croix ambulance response time is frequently over 25 minutes, too late to save anyone in this situation."
Will began her quest to get defibrillators into the fire houses after a man had a heart attack at the St. Croix Yacht Club, she said. They had a defibrillator on hand and were able to save the man’s life.
"This gentleman is now called Lazarus by his friends," she said.
Peter Dybing, a CPR and defibrillator instructor with the American Heart Association who is training people to use the machines, recalled witnessing a life being saved too, telling of a time when a woman collapsed onto the floor while playing slots in a casino. The casino had a defibrillator and someone grabbed it immediately and used it, he recalled.
"A few minutes later she’s up and talking to us, when she was essentially dead, her heart stopped, moments before," he said. "Five years from today there will be people walking the streets of St. Croix who would not be alive except for thanks to you," he said to Will.
Working in phases, Will and the St. Croix Foundation first supplied 13 defibrillators and training for the V.I. Fire Service. Now the four fire stations on St Croix each have three defibrillators and there is one more at the fire services office. Now she is working on the island’s parks.
"After hearing stories of the death at Canegata Park of Allan Woods, who was a mentor for many Crucians, I promised to place a defibrillator there," she said. "I was also asked to provide one for Cramer Park and the Vincent Mason Pool. Last week all the training was completed for the life guards and recreation directors for Housing Parks and Recreation at these locations."
Frederiksted’s Vincent Mason pool got its first device in May. Thursday, Cramer and Canegata parks received theirs, Government House received one and three were given to the V.I. Police Department; one for each of the island’s three police commands.
"I can tell you firsthand these will save lives," said Police Capt. Glenn Awong. "There is a feeling of helplessness sometimes when an officer gets to the scene and there is nothing you can do but CPR. … These give us more tools."
The AED Fund within the St. Croix Foundation has given out twenty of the devices so far, Will said.
"I’d like to see them in all the schools too," she said.
Will is also mapping the locations of all devices on the island. The new, donated ones bring the island’s total to 44 AEDs.
Because of the hefty price tag, every dollar helps and donations to the St. Croix Foundation are tax deductible, said Roger Dewey, the foundation’s director. To find out how you can help get defibrillators into the schools and other places on St. Croix you can email: aedfund@gmail.com or call Will at (340) 773-9898.
