IndyCARES a unit of the Indianapolis Emergency Medical Service (IEMS) Outreach Division placed the first automatic external defibrillator (AED) at the Indiana War Memorial today under a grant program. The AED placement program is part of a Federal grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services; Health Resources and Services Administration. It is for AED placement and compression only CPR training in the communities of Indianapolis. The program will be administered by the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County with leadership and direction provided by Dr. Dan O’Donnell, MD and the Indiana University School of Medicine.
The grant provides $145,013.00 in funding for the first year of the AED placement and use program. Additional recommended funding by the grant includes $146,997.00 for year two and $149,040.00 for year three. The additional funding years are based on availability of funds and satisfactory advancement of the proposed project. These figures represent 100 percent funding for the program with no local or state matching monies required. The grant specifies 20 AED’s to be placed in each of the three years of the grant. IEMS intends to exceed that amount, setting a first year goal of placing 35 AED’s and to increase that number in the subsequent years.
Sites are being selected throughout Indianapolis to receive AED’s. Factors considered in site selection include location, access, number of persons served, and the current rate of cardiac arrest in the area over time. The goal of the program, Indianapolis Targeted Cardiac Arrest Survival Program, is to improve cardiac arrest survival in high risk areas around Indianapolis. Dan O’Donnell, Chief Medical Director with Indianapolis EMS said, “We know through evidence based medicine that immediate CPR and defibrillation is instrumental in achieving a positive outcome for the patient.” In ddition to AED placement the grant provides for compression only CPR training for 500 persons per year. Since the inception of the IndyCARES unit, Indianapolis has trained over 5,000 citizens of Indianapolis in hands only CPR. The Indiana War Memorials see more than one million visitors annually according to Brigadier General J Stewart Goodwin, United States Air Force, Retired. The mission of the Indiana War Memorial is to honor the service of all Hoosier veterans, educating them on the rich history of service to our Nation by the citizens of Indiana. Goodwin said, “We enjoy the opportunity to educate our visitors on the role of Hoosiers in service of their country, but we also have a desire to keep them safe while they are visiting.” The second AED placed in the program will be at the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument located on Monument Circle in downtown.
IEMS is the largest provider of emergency pre-hospital medical care in the state, responding to nearly 100,000 911 calls each year. A division of the Indianapolis Department of Public Safety, IEMS is a partnership between the City of Indianapolis, Indiana University School of Medicine, and Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC). Eskenazi Health, which is part of HHC, is the upervising health system. IEMS strives to provide the best pre-hospital medical services to the community through the endless pursuit of excellence in patient-centered care, education, efficiency, efficacy, safety, and quality of service. IEMS serves the community not only through emergency care, but through unique outreach programs and educational opportunities.
