Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday at Downtown City Park for the city's first 24/7 publicly accessible Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
The AED is housed in a specially designed, climate-controlled kiosk known as a “SaveStation.”
It can tolerate extreme weather and houses an AED which will be available to anyone in the Downtown City Park and surrounding businesses.
“If somebody is unfortunate enough to have a sudden cardiac arrest, what they absolutely need to survive is immediate Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and an AED," says Fire Captain/Paramedic John Prickett.
Sudden cardiac arrest can be fatal "if not treated quickly, but with rapid intervention, survival is possible. CPR and the use of an AED may improve the probability of survival until emergency services arrive,” says Prickett.
The AED is safe to use, does not require specialized training, and provides instructions in both English and Spanish.
The SaveStation was provided through charitable contributions by Justin Community Grants and the Paso Robles Elks Club.
