This day marked the celebration of opening day for baseball season. The donation was initiated by Steven Smith, RN at Eastside Medical Center and longtime community supporter of the park’s athletic association. When approached about supplying the park with the defibrillator, Eastside Medical Center’s CEO Trent Lind was more than happy to support the cause.
“Eastside Medical Center is proud to support Mountain Park Park as one of our local community partners. In this scenario, we were more than happy to equip the park with a medical device that could potentially save the life of a park patron should they experience sudden cardiac arrest on site,” Lind said.
As defined by the American Heart Association, an automated external defibrillator (AED) is a lightweight, portable device that delivers an electric shock through the chest to the heart. The shock can stop an irregular heart rhythm and allow a normal rhythm to resume following sudden cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest is an abrupt loss of heart function. If it’s not treated within minutes, it quickly leads to death.
Present at the private ceremony was Dr. Marcus C. Sims, Cardiologist at Gwinnett Heart Specialists. “Less than 5% of patients who have cardiac arrest make it,” Sims stated, “If we can save one person’s life with this automated external defibrillator at Mountain Park Park, we will beat the odds and make a significant difference in Gwinnett County thanks to Eastside Medical Center.”
The donation was coordinated by one of Eastside’s dedicated RN’s, Steven Smith. The AED Defibrillator was dedicated to the park in a private ceremony attended by the Mountain Park Park Board of Directors, Eastside Medical Center CEO Trent Lind-center, Steven Smith, Dr. Marcus C. Sims, Cardiologist at Gwinnett Heart Specialists, and patient of Dr. Sims and cardiac arrest survivor Patrick Spink.
In addition to the aforementioned ceremony attendees, was patient of Dr. Sims and cardiac arrest survivor, Patrick Spink of Gwinnett County. This ceremony was special to Spink as his own personal experience moved him to create Pat’s Heart, a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and to increase the number of first responders that will willingly perform CPR or use an AED to save the lives of others. For more information on Pat’s Heart, you can visit www.patsheart.org.
“I was very proud to help bring Mountain Park baseball parks and Eastside Medical Center together,” Steven Smith said, “With Eastside donating an AED defibrillator, lives at the park will now be safer. The ceremony sends a strong message that Eastside and Mountain Park Athletic Association are both committed to the well-being of their communities. I am so thankful to be a part of both of these families.”
Eastside Medical Center extends their sincere appreciation to all who helped to make this endeavor possible.
(April 2017)
