The American Heart Association distributed 25 automated external defibrillators that will be added to Hillsborough County parks and sports complexes this month.
Mikah Collins is the Community Relations Coordinator for Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation. He said heat illness can cause a cardiac emergency, especially with how hot summers are getting.
“We just want to make sure that we're providing anyone in our park with whatever we can do to keep them safe should something arise,” Collins said.
He said the partnership with the heart association began in 2023 when the county received funding to cover 50 AEDs. The majority of them went to youth sports organizations that facilitate programming for youth, such as soccer, football and lacrosse.
Unlike the previous AEDs that are in the hands of youth leagues, the new ones will be installed in cabinets that anyone can access 24/7, regardless of whether staff are on site.
Collins said the plan is to put the AEDs at the county’s busiest sports complexes and parks, as well as the most remote ones.
Below are the parks getting the AEDs:
- Balm Park
- Bealsville Park & Recreation Center
- Bloomingdale East Park
- Branchton Park- 2 AEDs
- Brandon Park
- Burnett Sports Complex
- Carrollwood Village Park- 2 AEDs
- Cross Creek Park
- Dover Sports Complex
- Kings Forest Park
- Mango Park
- Northlakes Park- 2 AEDs
- Nye Park
- Progress Village Park
- Ruskin Park
- Skyway Sports Complex- 2 AEDs
- SouthShore Sportsplex
- Springhead Park
- Victor Crist Community Center Complex
- West Park Sports Complex
- William Owen Pass Sports Complex
Cross Creek Park is under construction and is not open yet, so the AED won't be available to the public until the park opens.
Collins said some parks will get more than one AED because they are large and sprawling.
“We don't want to make a person run from one side of the park to another to grab an AED and then come all the way back and waste minutes,” he said.
The AED locations at each park were also chosen strategically. They can be found in high-traffic areas, such as concession stands and restrooms.
“That way, everyone's just familiar with it,” Collins said. “So if they're at the park and something does happen, we're hoping that someone will be like, ‘Oh, I know where the AED is.’”
Collins said park visitors will need to call 911 for a password to access the AED. Emergency responders will then provide them with a five-digit code to unlock the cabinet to retrieve the AED.
He said this will protect the devices from potential foul play – and so first responders can get there as quickly as possible.
Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation staff are required to receive CPR and first aid training, which also covers how to use an AED.
“Anyone that's facilitating programming at our facilities is going to be trained on how to do CPR, first aid and utilize an AED,” Collins said.
Tampa police are getting AEDs
Meanwhile, the Tampa Police Department announced in a release they are getting AEDs through donations from organizations including Advent Health and BayCare. This will allow police to outfit every patrol vehicle with the defibrillators.
Why are AEDs important and how to use them
Courtney Burt is the Vice President of Community Impact for the American Heart Association in Tampa Bay. She said the organization works with the community to ensure parks have cardiac emergency response plans and that visitors are aware of them.
“Because if we just hand out this technology and people don't know where they're located or how to use them, then it's useless,” she said. “So we need people to know where these devices are, how to quickly get to them and utilize them, and then how to perform quality CPR.”
Burt said every minute of inaction reduces the survival rate by about seven to 10%. That’s why it is important for community members to be able to jump in and help as quickly as possible.
If someone collapses at a park and there are multiple other people around them, Burt said it is crucial to identify a person who's going to take responsibility for each step in the chain of survival.
There should usually be someone providing chest compressions, another person calling 911 and someone else getting the AED.
“We want to make sure that they've acknowledged and they know what their role is, so that we're sure that everything is getting done,” Burt said.
When someone calls 911, she said there will be a rapid assessment to determine if the medical emergency is cardiac arrest. The way to do this is by trying to get the person to wake up, tapping on their shoulders and talking to them.
If they still look lifeless or unresponsive, the next step is to do a quick check to see if there are normal signs of breathing. If the person is struggling to breathe, a cardiac arrest can be assumed.
Burt said this is when to start doing chest compressions until somebody gets there with the AED.
The machine provides step-by-step automated instructions. This means once the device is open, it will talk to the person who is handling the AED.
“They are extremely user-friendly, and all of them operate the same, so they're going to tell everybody what to do and when to do it in very clear, concise language,” Burt said.
Although using an AED to help someone might seem intimidating, Burt said people shouldn’t be afraid to use the devices.
“Once it's on, if there is not a heart rhythm or a shockable rhythm that it feels it can correct, it will not discharge electricity,” Burt said.
