The Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas recently set up an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Ministry. Their church is now equipped with four defibrillator units for the 98-year-old congregation of more than 4,000 members.
The Policy was set in place after a member of their congregation stated that she did not want any “heroic” measures to be used to revive her. This new Policy states that, “CPR and an AED unit will be used in an emergency, unless there is a clearly identifiable Do Not Resuscitate preference on the person who appears to be in need of the emergency aid.”
Bill Mann, chairman of the church’s Holy Healthy Committee stated that, “over the last few years, we had one or two episodes where someone became incapacitated. It wouldn’t have initially involved needing an AED defibrillator unit, but we knew that it was a possibility. We felt that a church the size of ours, with as much use as the campus gets, we needed to be prepared for an incident in the future.”
eMED’s own, Ben Wellons, says that “Greater than 50 percent of 911 calls from churches have to deal with heart attack or cardiac arrest.” He also believes that although eMED has sold units to more than 250 religious organizations in the past year, including Pulaski Heights, the market has barely been scratched.
…To continue reading about this article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, click here.
If you are interested in implementing an AED Program of your own, eMED Inc. would be more than happy to help you get started. Please feel free to call anytime Monday through Friday from 8-5 on our toll free number 1.866.327.3633 to talk to a representative for your region today!
