AEDs in Olney: A Life-Saving Community Project

Imagine you’re shopping, grabbing a bite to eat, or simply out and about in Olney when someone nearby suddenly suffers a cardiac arrest. Now imagine that a life-saving AED is just steps away.

That’s exactly why the Rotary Club of Olney set out to place Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) where they can be quickly accessed throughout the community—with support from a grant from the Olney Civic Fund, the Olney Lions, and private donors.

The goal is simple: put an AED nearby when every second counts.

Rotary Past-President Michael Weiner explains that the funding “will allow us to complete the project to install an AED at each of the shopping centers in town.”

The idea grew out of a 2015 Rotary meeting, when a speaker shared the importance of having AEDs readily available during a cardiac emergency. Rotary members recognized that having an AED nearby could make a tremendous difference. They decided to take the next step and install AEDs on the outside walls of shopping centers, where they can be accessed even when businesses are closed.

So far, AEDs have been installed at Olney Village Mart (two), Fair Hill Shopping Center (two), and Ashton Village Shopping Center, with two more planned for the Olney Shopping Center pending approval.

Each wall-mounted AED costs approximately $2,000—a significant investment, but one that could make an enormous difference when a cardiac emergency occurs. And there is good reason to have them close at hand. Nearly 90% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the United States are fatal. But when a bystander uses an AED before EMS arrives, survival rates improve substantially. The American Heart Association reports that when a person receives an AED shock within the first minute, about 9 out of 10 survive.

That’s a pretty powerful reason to know where the nearest AED is located!

The Rotary Club of Olney hopes its project will continue to grow, and the newly formed Leisure World Rotary Club is looking at bringing a similar project to its community.

A big thank-you to the Rotary Club of Olney for helping make Olney a safer community—and to the Olney Civic Fund and other supporters whose contributions are helping put potentially life-saving equipment within reach when it matters most.
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AEDs can save lives. Having one nearby could make all the difference.
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The Olney Rotary outside the Carpet and Vacuum Expo where an AED was installed.