| Dec. 31, 2003
Upper Michigan
Heart Institute at MGHS gives AED to Forsyth Township Fire Department
‘
I can’t say enough how much we appreciate Marquette General’s
donation’
The
New Year just got a little brighter for the Forsyth Township
Fire Department.
That’s because it’s the proud recipient of a new automatic
external defibrillator (AED) provided to them by the Upper
Michigan Heart Institute at Marquette General Health System. The life-saving device is used to help
them treat sudden cardiac arrest victims.
A defibrillator is a machine that delivers a shock to the heart during ventricular
fibrillation. This occurs when the heart beat pattern is abnormal (arrhythmia)
and the heart is unable to pump blood. Effective treatment involves shocking
the heart to get all the muscle cells to begin contracting again in an orderly
fashion.
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Myron Hillock, right, Fire Chief of Forsyth Township, proudly
accepts an automatic external defibrillator (AED) from Dagmar
Prout, Program Director of the Upper Michigan Heart Institute
at Marquette General Health System. Hillock said the new AED
will be placed in a quick response vehicle at the new Sawyer
fire station that becomes operational in mid-January.
(MGHS
photo) |
Over the last
three years, MGHS has donated a number of defibrillators to select
Upper Peninsula communities, based upon need, through
a healthcare agreement
it has with Medtronic — a leading pacemaker and medical device corporation.
The AED given to Forsyth Township marks one of the last life-saving devices
to be awarded in the near future by Marquette General to Upper Peninsula
communities.
“These AEDs can be life-saving tools,” said Dagmar Prout, Program
Director of the Upper Michigan Heart Institute. “We are very pleased to
lend a helping hand to communities that can most benefit from them. They can
very well mean the difference between life and death.”
Sudden cardiac arrest strikes about 1,000 people a day in the U.S. alone. Once
the blood stops circulating, a person quickly loses consciousness and the
ability to breathe. The chance of survival decreases about 10 percent with
each passing
minute, making the defibrillator a much-needed, life-saving unit.
Myron Hillock, Fire Chief of Forsyth Township, said the AED is very much
appreciated.
“I can’t say enough how much we appreciate Marquette General’s
donation of the AED to our fire department,” Hillock said.
The Forsyth Township Fire Department currently has one AED unit on board its
quick response truck located at the Gwinn Station. By mid-January, a second
fire station — a cooperative venture between the Forsyth and Skandia/West
Branch Fire Departments — will become operational on Sawyer.
“The new AED unit from Marquette General will be placed in a quick response
vehicle operating out of the new Sawyer station,” Hillock said. “This
station will serve a population of approximately 3,300 citizens, plus the several
hundred workers located on Sawyer.
“In light of continuing budget cuts, this AED unit never would have been
possible without the aid and assistance of Marquette General. The residents,
workers, visitors and thousands of folks who traverse Forsyth Township each day
are thankful to Marquette General.”
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