Paoli Fire Co. 1 wants defibrillator in every local house of worship

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

By Gil Cohen

A 65-year-old male congregant of Paoli Presbyterian Church is listening to the Rev. Richard Streeter one Sunday morning when suddenly the parishioner collapses. As chance would have it, another congregant – an emergency-room nurse from Paoli Hospital – was in attendance and went to his aid. Fortunately the church was equipped with an automated external defibrillator (AED). Someone quickly handed it to the nurse, who was already familiar with AEDs. Within moments the man was breathing normally again.

Ventricular fibrillation, a violent aberration of the heart rhythm, is the most common complication resulting in cardiac arrest. Early application of defibrillation has been a long-standing practice of emergency medicine. The AED is a small, compact, electrical, computer-driven device that stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to re-establish a normal rhythm.

One day Streeter was talking with Paoli Fire Co. No. 1 member Jim Curran about this incident. The incident proved, they agreed, that the availability of an AED at a house of worship – or for that matter at any community gathering place – could be an invaluable life-saving tool. They also agreed, however, that not having trained personnel to operate it would defeat its purpose.

What followed was the creation of Paoli FC’s first community-outreach program, “AEDs for Houses of Worship.” The program has a twofold objective: to place AEDs in all houses of worship in the Paoli FC service area and to ensure that a “core group” of ushers, vestrymen, rabbinical assistants and other regular attendees are trained in the operation of AEDs

As for the first objective, “so far we have only two AEDs placed in two (out of eight) houses of worship in our primary area,” admitted Andrew Worth, captain of Paoli FC’s ambulance.

The second of the two churches to acquire an AED is Great Valley Presbyterian Church. On Saturday, Feb. 13, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Paoli FC representatives will conduct a training class for church personnel at the church on Swedesford Road in Malvern.

In the months ahead, said Worth, “we want to reach out to the six other houses of worship in our primary area, encourage them to acquire AEDs and encourage them to work with us in getting a core group of church personnel trained in AED operations.”