Quote:
Originally Posted by Retired55
This is a different view on an AED program that a group on Facebook is implementing, for the Village of Newell. It is a view no one on Facebook in the Group will comment on for fear of being outcast or attacked. That’s why its being posted here. This is not meant to attack the organizers or anyone who supports or has donated to the program. The organizer has mentioned to the group that some people where opposed to the Program but they do not understand why.
The group wants to install 25 AED devices throughout the Village, and is asking $100 per household.
First, the AED devises are a great Lifesaving tool and I think they are wonderful as I am also certified to operate one. But the program itself is not the issue.
Simply said, a Facebook group should not be making decisions for the entire Village, no matter how good or well meaning the project is. It is just a Facebook group; no one voted anyone in for this. It has created a situation where you are making people uncomfortable and pitting one side against another. This should not happen. The group is aggressively collecting money by going door to door, setting up tables at the mail and rec centers and other ways. Some people do not appreciate that and shouldn't have to explain why they do not want to contribute.
The Village of Newell is a beautiful community, with friendly neighbors who look out for each other and enjoy each others company. While this program is very thoughtful and well meaning, please understand that there may be some neighbors who do not agree, for their own reasons.
I'm sure money can be an issue with some people, and they shouldn’t have to explain that to anyone, or be made uncomfortable because of it.
There are lots of questions about the program itself but that is for a different conversation and is not really relevant to this view.
Please, this is just a different view not an argument.
I am curios what others in the Villages have to say on the issue.
Retired
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In Buttonwood we implemented AED's some years back but it was done in subunits of the whole village. The Buttonwood islanders was a group of about 50 homes and our social club held several meetings and agreed to move forward. The program included 2 AED's, posts and boxes to secure them and a slush fund to support them for 3 years. This was all done under the auspices of the Villages Fire and Rescue. Also required were 5 to 10 volunteers to get AED and CPR training who further agreed to be first responders. These people were signed up to receive telephone call outs in parallel to the EMS. First responders are usually able to respond within 2 minutes and provide AED and CPR and provide guidance to the house when EMS arrives. In the 5 years we were involved we received 2 call outs. The first was already deceased. In the second our response was 1 minute and we resuscitated the patient and applied CPR for 5 minutes until EMS arrived. The patient survived to the hospital but subsequently passed.
For the AED program to be effective, IMHO, it must be combined with local, trained, neighborhood response.