JCHC to implement AED awareness and training program

A life saving device should be accessible, and a community should feel empowered and comfortable using one to save a life.

That’s the goal of the Johnson County Healthcare Center’s AED awareness and training program. AED stands for automated external defibrillator. It’s a portable, life-saving device to treat people who are experiencing cardiac arrest.

JCHC’s program will increase awareness of the location of AEDs throughout the community, along with provide training to empower community businesses to use an AED if the need arises.

“Through generous donations from local banks, we will be able to purchase a number of AEDs to provide in the community. Any local entity that wishes to house an AED will be considered and each unit will be strategically placed for most appropriate and convenient access,” said Haley Odenbach, ED supervisor and trauma program manager at the Johnson County Healthcare Center. “We will provide an AED along with a short training course and help in identifying an appropriate place for the unit.”

The program will also work with area businesses to identify existing AED locations in the community. If your business owns an AED and wants to be included on a map, let us know. Send an email to Haley Odenbach at haleyc@jchealthcare.com.

If your local business is interested in having an AED on site, email haleyc@jchealthcare.com.

“Here’s a device that can save lives, and we want to make sure the community is aware of their locations,” Odenbach said. “It’s something that would be ideal in grocery stores, bars, churches – places where community members gather. We want to make sure people can help, and there are a lot of willing people in this community. That’s what makes our community so great.”