The City of Overland Park will unveil its first outdoor, publicly-accessible automated external defibrillator on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 10 a.m. in Thompson Park, 8045 Santa Fe Drive in Downtown Overland Park.
The AED is housed in a specially designed, climate controlled cabinet known as a “SaveStation.” It can tolerate extreme weather and will be available 24/7 to anyone in the area.
Using the SaveStation
During a medical emergency, first call 911 to dispatch emergency medical services.
To use the SaveStation in an emergency, open the cabinet and remove the AED. The AED is portable and does not need to remain connected to the SaveStation cabinet.
An alarm will sound; this is normal and alerts the Overland Park Police Department that someone has removed the AED.
Turn the AED on, apply the pads to the person needing help, and follow the voice prompts on the AED until emergency medical services arrive.
Community support funds installation
A group of Overland Park residents donated the unit. At Wednesday’s event, City officials will thank the donors and announce plans to add more of these units in the future.
The City of Overland Park enjoys one of the highest sudden cardiac arrest save rates in the nation. The national average last year was about 30 percent, while Overland Park’s was more than 42 percent.
Part of the reason for this success is Overland Park neighbors who jump in to perform bystander CPR and AED deployment.
These first links in the chain of survival make all the difference in patient outcomes.
The addition of these outdoor, publicly accessible AEDs will only increase the chances of survival in Overland Park.
The City’s units will be placed into databases that tell members of the community where AEDs are located, in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest.