Village of Prairie du Sac begins installing AEDs in parks

Recently, the Village of Prairie du Sac began installing cabinets with AEDs in its parks. The first cabinet was recently installed in Culver Community Park by the Village’s Public Works/Utilities Department. To access the AED inside the heated cabinet, one dials 911. The Sauk County Sheriff’s Department Dispatch will then provide instructions and the access code to open the cabinet.  When the AED itself is open it provides audible instructions on how to use it. Dispatch will send first responders to the scene.  More than 350,000 people go into cardiac arrest each year outside of hospitals, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).  AHA says a person’s chance of surviving drops by 7 to 10 percent every minute a normal heartbeat isn’t restored, but immediate Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) use can double or triple the person’s chance of survival.  AEDs are intended for use by the public. They are portable, safe, accurate and easy to use.  The Village will install two more of the cabinets at its Westwynde Park and Veterans Memorial Park with hopes to install more of the AED cabinets at other parks soon.  The three cabinets being installed in 2024 were partially funded by the Sauk Prairie Healthcare Foundation’s Healthy Life Grant.