Monroe County Executive Jack Doyle has announced the acceptance of a $9,000 donation from the Townson Foundation to expand the county's comprehensive, life-saving program which provides Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public buildings to aid victims of cardiac arrest.

In 1998, the county began a life-saving program which provided AEDs in publicly owned buildings and free training for potential users coordinated with the County's Emergency Medical Dispatch program. Under this program, operators at the County's 911 Center know the location of each machine in the community and are able to talk people through their use.

Electrical Defibrillation is a time-sensitive procedure that should be applied to the patient in no more than eight minutes and ideally less than four minutes after the onset of cardiac arrest. It is estimated that more than 95 percent of cardiac arrest patients die because this life saving therapy arrives too late, if at all.

Advanced technology has developed the compact, reliable and affordable AEDs used in the county's life-saving program. Voice prompts in the machines lead operators through necessary steps and if any non-shockable rhythm is obtained, the machine will not allow a shock to be delivered. Therefore, these machines require minimal training for their use with no knowledge of ECG interpretation necessary.

Contributions from Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Townson Foundation covered start-up costs for the life-saving program and the initial purchase of 13 machines which were placed in public buildings throughout the county such as the County Office Building, CityPlace, Westfall Road County Building, County Public Safety Building, County Jail, Frontier Field and Convention Center. In 1999, the Townson Foundation donated additional funds for the purchase of seven more AEDs and this year's donation will enable the purchase of three machines.