The new Cardiac Crusade initiative is bringing volunteers, first responders, and healthcare professionals together to map every automated external defibrillator they can find across the city.
Cardiac CATS, led by Sarah Katzenmaier and Charlotte Callan, is coordinating the effort locally. Katzenmaier survived sudden cardiac arrest five years ago during Lexington’s Thriller parade after bystanders jumped into action.
"To be here with so many people who had something to do with saving my life, it truly does take a village, and I guess you all are my village," Katzenmaier said. "For me, dropping dead from sudden cardiac arrest in front of the Kentucky Theatre in 2021, it took someone calling 9-1-1. That's the first step."
The second step was CPR, performed on Main Street by Callan. Leading the Cardiac Crusade volunteers, Callan and Katzenmaier want to make sure the next person in cardiac arrest doesn't lose precious time while others search for an AED.
"Our goal is simple. Identify and verify AED's throughout Lexington so these lifesaving devices can be found more quickly during an emergency. And our goal is to map as many AED's by February as possible," Callan said.
Volunteers will fan out across Lexington to locate and verify AEDs in businesses, apartment buildings, government facilities, and other public spaces. The devices will be mapped through the PulsePoint Foundation’s NEAR app, giving residents and first responders a better chance of finding one when seconds count.
According to the National Institutes of Health, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) save an estimated 1,700 lives in the United States every year when bystanders use them before emergency personnel arrive.
The official kickoff of the Cardiac Crusade is 5 p.m. Oct. 16 at West Sixth Brewing in Lexington, where organizers will recruit volunteers for the AED mapping mission.
You can also register an AED at your business or property through the PulsePoint AED registry.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said to "think of it as a citywide treasure hunt, with a potentially lifesaving prize."
