EHFD Donates 1st Of 5 Automatic External Defibrillators To Community

EAST HAVEN, CT — Tuesday night, the East Haven Fire Department donated its first Automatic External Defibrillator, this one to be housed at the East Haven Irish American Heritage Association.

"Recently the department received a federal grant to increase the number of AED’s on fire rescue vehicles, allowing us to shelve our older units," Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli said. "Some were obsolete, but others were ok to distribute throughout the community." Marcarelli said East Haven Mayor Joseph A. Carfora supported the idea.

"AED’s will be distributed to the New Haven Irish American Club, the Italian American Society, the East Haven Public Library and the American Legion Hall," Marcarelli said. "The Library is the last town-owned building to be outfitted with a defibrillator, all others have them including the schools. The other locations were chosen because they have gathering places where large numbers of people may gather."

The defibrillators are designed for everyday folks' use, he said, noting they provide "voice prompts" for the user.

The Fire Department will be providing limited training to the facility operators, Marcarelli said, and added that the AEDs will be stored in secured, but publically accessible and available, cabinets.

"Early defibrillation has been identified as resulting in an increased survival rate in sudden cardiac arrest," Marcrelli said.