Source: Ellen McIntyre/Cape Gazette
Community Comes Together to Launch Life-Saving AED
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Aug. 9 for a 24-7-accessible AED tower under cover at The Starboard in Dewey Beach.
The tower was purchased and installed last year from the proceeds from the 2024 Dave’s Dewey Dash, an annual 5K that has since been renamed the Community Matters Foundation 5K. Due to installation and scheduling delays, the ribbon-cutting event was pushed to this year.
The white-and-red AED tower is located by the railing in The Starboard’s permanent covered structure just left of the restaurant’s main entrance. It’s accessible at all times, including when The Starboard is closed, to anyone who needs it. Whenever the tower door is opened, a notification is sent to town officials to ensure help is on the way.
The tower features a photo of the late Dave Ashby, a Dewey Beach property owner who died of sudden cardiac arrest in 2019 at the age of 28. His mother, Laura, has been holding the annual 5K race in his honor to spread awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and to raise money to purchase AEDs for local businesses.
The AED tower’s convenience and accessibility could be a game-changer for the town. According to the American Red Cross, for every minute that immediate CPR and use of an AED are delayed for a person experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, the person’s survival chances decrease by 10%.
Source: Ellen McIntyre/Cape Gazette
