Source: Paso Robles Daily News
Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services held a presentation ceremony and ribbon cutting for the new ‘Save Station’ automated external defibrillator (AED) installed in Downtown City Park on Wednesday.
Captain John Prickett said:
“Today we are welcoming our new SaveStation into the community, this is the public’s opportunity to recognize the donors that contributed money to make this possible. Our public access defibrillator program has always been a challenge in terms of not being available to anybody and everybody every day of every hour or every week or every month. We want to make sure that it is available 365 days a year 24 hrs a day. In the city we have a lot of large events, we have our downtown festivals, concerts in the park we also have a lot of tourists and visitors that come to the downtown area and there are so many businesses in the surrounding area so our population is growing in this area, so it’s nice to be able to offer this machine to the public in the event that someone should go into what’s called sudden cardiac arrest. Our community and our nation, in general, are suffering more and more cardiac arrest events so it’s nice to have an AED available to anybody until Emergency Services can arrive…
“Time is of the essence when it comes to using an AED. Anybody within the surrounding area can identify this as a SafeStation. One great thing about this AED is that it is bilingual and it can treat pediatric patients, as we have a park here where a lot of little kids attend. The machine is fully automatic so all a person has to do is follow the directions on the machine itself.
“We have AEDs throughout the community, we have one in the city library, and we also have one in the movie theatre as well but nobody really knows about them. And nor are they available all the time cause of some businesses hours So with this one being in the center of the park it is available whenever someone needs to use it. We also have other parks that could use this type of technology for example Barney Swartz Park where they hold large sporting events and or general gatherings.
“After this event today I will be going to all of the businesses in the area getting people familiar with sidewalk CPR and other lifesaving techniques. This was made possible by Justin Community Grant and also Paso Robles Elk’s Lodge. Both of these groups helped with getting the machine installed. If any other businesses want to help with additional AEDs you can contact Paso Robles Emergency Services.”
