MURRELLS INLET, SC (WBTW) – When a person has a heart attack, emergency crews say a few minutes without treatment could mean the difference between life and death. Those precious moments are the driving factor behind a new effort to put defibrillators all over Georgetown County.
Battalion Chief Carr Gilmore with Midway Fire Rescue has been on the force for 27 years, and says cardiac arrest is one of the most frequent calls first responders face. Cardiac arrest is also the leading cause of death in people over 40, and nine out of 10 victims die.
“CPR and early defibrillation is what saves someone who is in cardiac arrest in that pre-hospital setting,” Chief Gilmore says.
Automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, are being placed around the country and officials are making it easy for people to find them through a mobile app called Pulse Point. The devices are automatic, which means they don’t require any training and most anyone can use it.
“You can go on there, you can look at the app, and it will tell you where the closest AED is to your location, which is fantastic. So, we’ve been working to populate that map with the AEDs that are out there,” Gilmore said of the app.
Randy Hollister with the Pawleys Island Rotary Club is helping organize the project because he says they’ve already seen it work.
“One was installed at one of the local golf courses and within 18 days, somebody needed it to save a life,” Randy Hollister said.
Rotary clubs from Andrews, Georgetown, Pawleys Island and Murrells Inlet all work to raise money within their own chapters and plan to apply for a Rotary Foundation grant to make more defibrillators available.
“We’re also trying to work with local businesses to encourage them to kind of piggy-back with us and put some in at their facility. So, again, the closer you are to a machine, the more likely you are to be able to save a life,” Hollister insists.
Gilmore confirms rotary clubs around Georgetown County have already brought 20 devices to the area. The Murrells Inlet Marshwalk is one of the next places they plan to install a defibrillator.
