HomeMy WebLinkAboutNov 23 Police Defibrillators
City of Edina 4801 W. 50th St. Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Debbie Townsend, Communications Assistant
Phone 952-826-0396 dtownsend@EdinaMN.gov EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Firehouse Subs grant provides defibrillators for Edina Police Cars
Edina, Minn., Nov. 22, 2016 – All Edina Police Department patrol cars have been equipped with new
defibrillators, thanks to a $20,720 grant from Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.
The 16 new devices replace defibrillators that date back to 2003 or 2004. They were so old they were failing,
and the company that made them no longer serviced them. Manufacturers recommend they be replaced
every five or six years, said Edina Police Lt. Dan Conboy.
“We were way overdue for new ones” said Conboy, who applied for the grant.
Automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) send an electric charge into a patient in an attempt to get a heartbeat
back in rhythm. They can save lives in cases of cardiac arrest.
While paramedics take the lead in medical situations, the defibrillators come in handy when police officers
arrive first at an emergency call.
“We often are there first because we’re already out there on the road,” Conboy said.
All officers are trained to use the devices. New defibrillators also have been put in the Police Department’s
traffic cars and in City Hall.
Edina Police Chief Dave Nelson thanked the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation and Edina-area
franchisees Roger and Peggy Sitzmann for the donation that allowed the Police Department to buy the
defibrillators.
A special ceremony will be held Nov. 29 at Firehouse Subs, 10700 France Ave. in Bloomington, to celebrate
the Edina grant as well as several other grants made to area public safety agencies.
The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation was founded in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It
has donated more than $23 million to more than 2,600 organizations for life-saving equipment, disaster
prevention education, disaster relief, support of military veterans and scholarships or continued education in
the public safety field.
For more information on the Nov. 29 ceremony or the foundation, email foundation@firehousesubs.com or
call 904-886-8300.
-30-