Published: October 15, 2009 11:03 pm      

Grant will provide for defibrillators throughout the county

CUMBERLAND — It’s so easy that, well, a caveman could do it.

A federal grant will aid Allegany County Emergency Medical Services in providing at least 33 automated external defibrillators to public schools, the local health department and Country Club Mall, among other places.

Steve Kesner, EMS division chief for Allegany County, said there is no timeline for the AEDs to be placed. On Thursday during the county commissioners’ weekly public meeting, however, Kesner left no doubt as to their potential importance.

“This won’t save everyone,” Kesner said, holding a portable AED in the commissioners’ meeting room. “But if a person is revivable, this can revive them.”

Kesner said the new AEDs provide step-by-step instructions, both written and by digital voice prompt.

“It talks you through” the process, Kesner said, which allows someone in a public space to use the machine to save someone’s life. While training is available, it’s not required to work the machine.

The grant for $157,921.80 with no cash match from the county was awarded to the EMS Division as well as the Allegany County Health Department and Board of Education, which serve as partners in the grant application to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.

Kesner was assisted with the grant application by Paula McKenzie, public health nurse and AED coordinator at the health department and Lorelee Farrell, supervisor for Health and Family Life for the Allegany County Board of Education.

At least 33 machines will be purchased and possibly up to 50, Kesner said, depending on what the best cost per unit is from the selected vendor. Of the 33, eight will be placed in public middle and high schools, eight to local fire departments, one to district court and one to circuit court.

The AEDS in the public school system will supplement what is already in place. Three years ago, legislation required the school district to develop and implement an AED program.

The health department’s allocation of six units will be distributed between its Willowbrook Road facility, the Cumberland YMCA, a halfway house and the Country Club Mall in LaVale. The county’s allocation will be divided among the Bureau of Police and law enforcement agencies in Westernport, Frostburg and Lonaconing.

Several public places around the county already have AEDs, Kesner said, including the County Office Complex on Kelly Road, the Great Allegheny Passage trail, Allegany College of Maryland and Frostburg State University.

Kesner said the grant also provides to fund two AED trainers and two CPR mannequins per agency. It also will pay to train up to 950 residents across the county, he said.

AED technology has been in the county between 15 and 20 years, Kesner said.

“This is not something new,” he said, but now “the public is easily able to get to them. We’re going to see how well it works.”

Commissioner Dale Lewis called the project “worthwhile” before voting with Commissioners Jim Stakem and Bob Hutcheson to accept the grant.

“You never know when somebody’s going to need it,” Lewis said, noting the county’s aging population.

Stakem said the initiative is but one reason of the “many, many examples why we started a Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security in Allegany County. It covers many areas.”

Kesner said if the price of the AEDs allows, the sheriff’s office and the Cumberland Police Department also would receive the machines to place in patrol cars.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.