Building a Heart-Safe Community

             Since 2004, Williamsburg Community Health Foundation has awarded $500,000 to the Historic Triangle Public Access Defibrillation Task Force to install 315  automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and provide CPR/AED training to more than 800 employees and residents in the Williamsburg area. Unlike a competitive grant project, in a strategic initiative such as this one,  WCHF convened representatives for this task force from local public life and fire safety departments, the College of William and Mary, Sentara Regional Medical Center, Williamsburg-James City County Schools, Colonial Williamsburg, American Heart Association, and Red Cross chapters to develop a public access to defibrillation implementation plan.  The objective was to assure that AEDs are readily available in public and/or private places where large numbers of people gather or the risk of sudden cardiac arrest may be higher. 

    Task Force members have worked diligently to identify and prioritize locations for placing AEDs, selected a quality, user-friendly AED unit, obtained physician oversight and emergency medical services tie in, made site visits to all facilities, and arranged CPR/AED training for employees and other local residents. All public schools, libraries, and recreational parks in James City and York counties and the City of Williamsburg now have at least one AED on site. Highly trafficked public assembly areas such as the Jamestown-Scotland ferries, churches, and William and Mary’s Zable stadium have AEDs on site.

    A key expansion to the public access to defibrillation project in 2006 was the placement of 154 automated external defibrillators and temperature control AED  storage units in every first responder’s (local law enforcement, fire and rescue) vehicle in James City and York Counties and the City of Williamsburg. This provides 24/7 access to AEDs, a trained responder and more widespread availability to defibrillation for sudden cardiac arrest victims. 

    On three different occasions in 2007, York-Poquoson Sheriff’s deputies were credited with saving a life utilizing an AED.  One incident involved a tourist staying  at a hotel in Yorktown, one was in response to an emergency call for help for a person not breathing in a private residence, and the third was in the York County Courthouse when Circuit Court Judge Smiley was found to be unresponsive and not breathing.  Another heart was shocked back to normal rhythm with an AED by two security guards on a golf course in James City County in late 2005.  

     The “Saving Lives in the Historic Triangle” initiative has been recognized as a role model for other communities and a leader regionally in the number of AED placements and training provided.  It has been the stimulus for area churches and businesses to install AEDs and provide necessary training. Following the lead of this PAD initiative, Hampton public schools purchased and installed AEDs in all of their schools.   

    Members of the Historic Triangle PAD Task Force are working towards the day when AEDs are as common as fire extinguishers. They will assist interested business or property owners in placing an AED and provide ongoing support and communication to all AED placements.  Task Force members are available for presentations to any groups interested in learning more about AEDs and helping to continue to build a heart safe community.