Erlanger Health System donated an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) to Boynton Recreation in Ringgold on Thursday.
All recreation facilities owned and operated by Catoosa County are required to have operational AEDs on site. However, Boynton Recreation is a volunteer run, self-funded nonprofit organization that is not operated or funded by the county. Officials with Boynton Recreation saw the need for an AED, and Erlanger accepted their request to donate the life-saving device.
Public access to AED programs are vital in the chain of survival during a cardiac arrest.
According to the American Heart Association, approximately 7,000 children die from sudden cardiac arrest every year. If an AED is used within the first three minutes of a cardiac arrest the chances of survival raise to greater than 70 percent. If used within a minute, chance of survival increases to 90 percent.
Robbie Tester, VP of Operations at Erlanger Health System; Chris Haddock, MD, Erlanger South Family Medicine; Ron Buchheit, MD, EMS medical director; Stacy Prater, LIFE FORCE Outreach Education manager; and Mark Snyder, president of Boynton Recreation were on hand for the event as well as LIFE FORCE 3 crew and Fort Oglethorpe Fire Department.