To the Editor:
Once again, Sunday’s Daily Sun has a front-page article promoting The Villages AED program.
I may be very cynical, but am I the only person thinking that The Villages must be making a fortune promoting this program and selling all of these AEDs? I certainly understand the benefit of having this equipment at a recreation center, pool, or other public facility where if an individual goes into cardiac arrest, one person can call 911, one person can start CPR, and one person can run and get the AED. But I question the value of having them in all of these neighborhoods.
Our neighborhood did enroll in the program and received two for 99 homes about five years ago. So far, it’s been put into use three or four times that I’m aware of, and the paramedics were there first in most cases, I believe, and one person had a DNR. The one statistic we never see in any of these “promotions” for the program is how many lives the neighborhood AEDs have saved. Yes, even if it’s one, for the family and friends of that individual, it’s worth it. But I think The Villages needs to be more transparent when selling this program.
Carrie Harless
Village of Bonnybrook
