NOTE Each week as DeLuna Villagers make donations directly to Citizens First Bank we will lower the goal here in the go fund me to reflect the money in the account at the bank. As of 2/29/2024 we've raised 83% of our goal

Dear fellow DeLuna Villagers,

The AED Committee has been working with The Villages Public Safety to identify locations within DeLuna that should have an AED.

AED stands for Automatic External Defibrillator. Defibrillators are common place now and help to revive people who suffer cardiac arrest. Over 350,000 people have an out of hospital cardiac arrest in the US annually. Cardiac Arrest is when the patient has no pulse, they are not breathing, and they are unconscious. It is when CPR and an AED is required.

For every minute that it takes to get an AED on the patient the chance of survival diminishes by 10%. Get the AED on to the patient in 2 minutes, you have given them an 80% chance of survival.

In 2019 the Villages Daily Sun reported that due to the AED program in The Villages, 4 out of 10 people survive a cardiac event. The national average is only 1 out of 10.

While The Villages provides AEDs in Rec Centers and Town Centers, each village or individual neighborhood needs to raise their own funds for AED’s in the community they live in.

Many AEDs will be mounted on vinyl posts. Some may be mounted directly to walls owned by The Villages.

They are stored in weather proof cabinets which are padlocked with a common key rescuers will have.

AEDs are designed to be very user friendly. They provide audible and visual instructions to the rescuer guiding them step by step explaining how to use the AED and when and how to provide CPR.

AEDs will not provide therapy to a patient who doesn’t require treatment.

We can’t launch the program until we raise enough funds. Our goal is to raise at least $30 per home. The $30 should fund this program for approx 10 years. The Villages Fire Rescue requires that we have sufficient funds to purchase the equipment and also to replace the first set of electrodes & lithium battery for each AED. The pads are good for approximately 2 years and the battery for 4 years.

We need to know if you would like to become a rescuer when we launch the program. The Villages Fire Rescue will hold classes to teach us all CPR and how to use the AED at the Everglade Rec Center. Once trained they will set us all up with an phone app called Pulse Point. It will alert you if someone near you is having an emergency requiring the AED. You and your neighbors would grab the closest AED and go right to the house to provide aid until the Fire Rescue arrive. If you would like to get on the list for training when we launch the program. Send us a message using the contact button below.

We need some handy Villagers who can volunteer to install the AED posts in the appropriate locations when we are ready to launch the program. This saves us from additional costs. The posts and supplies will be paid for by the

donated AED Program funds. If you are a handy person and think you can lend a hand please let us know by sending us a

message using the contact button below.