To the Editor:
The Developer, and us neighbors, brag and market about The Villages’ being Florida’s Friendliest Hometown. But do you realize that The Villages is Florida’s Safest Hometown?
Several years ago Gale Lazenby retired as fire commissioner (someplace up north, let him fill you in on the details of when and where) and moved to The Villages for fun in the sun and golf, etc.
Having lunch one day with The Villages fire chief, he was asked to take on some “part-time” duties advising the fire department on various techniques and methodologies. This “part-time” job turned into a 50-hour per week, over 12-year stint.
One of the first initiatives Gale put into place was to organize and train teams of neighborhood first-responders. The fire department’s response record is quite enviable, but still yet, a neighbor next door or down the street can get to a victim much quicker than the EMTs. (For every one minute that the heart is not pumping blood, the chances of survival diminish 10 percent. Ten minutes of no pulse and there ain’t no chance of survival.)
As a result of Gales’ initiative, The Villages is now equipped with 177 AED/CPR teams with another 10 teams pending. Members of these teams are trained and certified with the use CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) and AEDs (Automatic Electronic Defibrillator). Whenever a 911 call goes out for cardiac arrest (911 calls for other emergencies do not go to the AED team), the responders on the team located in the victim’s neighborhood receive the notification simultaneously with the fire station and their EMTs.
Gilbert Murray
Village of Pennecamp
