Little Falls Lindbergh Lions Recreational Complex Equipped With Outdoor AED | Morrison County Record

Joel Vogel, outdoor AED specialist with Advocates for Health, spoke about the benefits of having an outdoor AED installed on the west side of Little Falls.

Recognizing the need for a lifesaving Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) that is accessible to the public 24/7, the Little Falls Lindbergh Lions Club paid for one to be installed.

The AED was installed by the Lindbergh Lions Recreational Complex near Lincoln Elementary School in Little Falls, Aug. 4.

Lindbergh Lions Member Deb Retka said many of the members grew up on the west side, have gone to many of the sports games and knew it was beneficial to have nearby “just in case.” In the past, she said, there have been spectators who have collapsed and while all incidents had a positive outcome, having an AED installed can literally mean the difference between life and death, she said.

After the AED was installed, Joel Vogel, outdoor AED specialist with Advocates for Health and Todd Wistrom with Specialized Health and Safety, spoke about the difference an AED makes and offered hands-on training to those who were present.

Vogel said he joined the group, “Mended Hearts” in St. Paul after he had a heart attack on Mother’s Day about 18 years ago. What made a huge difference for him at that time was the neighbors’ quick thinking of giving him a baby aspirin and the ambulance personnel giving him nitroglycerin under the tongue on three occasions when he started going out, he said.

Later, when he was running a golf course, Vogel raised funds to purchase and install 24 AEDs in his community.

While AEDs in community locations is not a new concept, Vogel said many AEDs are installed in indoor locations that are not open to the public 24/7. In other words, he said, the AED is not going to help if a person can’t access it.

The AED installed at the Lindbergh Lions Recreational Complex was placed in an AED smart monitored cabinet, which is mounted on a stainless steel cabinet. Since an outdoor cabinet is exposed to high and low temperatures, the cabinet’s temperature changes to keep the AED functional, whether it is by cooling it off with a fan during a hot summer month, or heat it during freezing winters, Vogel said.

When the cabinet door is opened, an audible alarm and visual red lights are triggered. Once the AED is removed from the cabinet, a call to an emergency alert monitoring center is triggered and 911 emergency personnel is dispatched, if needed, to the AED location. Vogel said in the past, people were able to call 911 from the cabinet. However, since most people are not going to stand by the cabinet to talk with a dispatcher while their loved one is having a heart attack, Vogel said the AED now allows the person to talk with dispatch while rendering aid to the person in need of it.

The cabinet also has LED illuminated panels, which helps increase visibility and readability at all hours. The integrated light sensor also illuminates the AED in dim conditions.

Vogel said the smart cabinet is powered through a 24V DC converter and is hardwired in with the use of safety extra-low voltage. In addition, the cabinet includes a rechargeable backup battery that powders essential functions. The cabinet shows daily connectivity and reporting through cellular communication and text alerts, he said.

The AED itself is easy to use and has written as well as verbal step-by-step instructions on what to do. When minutes matter during a sudden cardiac arrest, Vogel said the AED smart monitoring external AED can make a huge difference.

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