FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Capt. Dave Wheaton, Lee County Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
                (941) 335-1661

FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 20, 2001) – Lee County is continuing to expand its Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Program by placing 17 more of the devices in public facilities around the county.

The Board of Lee County Commissioners today approved agreements with five entities to use the life-saving devices under a program and training overseen by Lee County Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The county purchased 50 AEDs earlier this year with state grant funds and county money.

Automated External Defibrillators are easy-to-use heart defibrillation machines that can save thousands of lives each year. The AEDs now on the market use computerized assessments of heart rhythms to allow non-medical personnel, with minimal training, to give safe and easy rapid defibrillation. During cardiac arrest, for every minute defibrillation is delayed, the victim’s chances of survival go down 7-10 percent.

The agencies receiving the AEDs approved today are:

• Lee County Health Department (3 AEDs)
• Edison Community College (7)
• Florida Gulf Coast University (2)
• City of Sanibel (4)
• Town of Fort Myers Beach (1)

Lee County EMS will train employees at these locations in how to use the machines. Lee County EMS plans to place AEDs in at least 33 government operated facilities throughout Lee County and its cities and train 264 employees (eight at each facility) in their use.

The American Heart Association recommends that any facility in which large groups of people congregate consider establishing a defibrillation program. This is especially true in high-security companies, high-rise buildings, gated communities, sprawling manufacturing plants and remote sites. It is estimated that establishing these defibrillation programs could help save as many as 50,000 lives each year.