The Porter County Health Department and the town of Kouts installed a publicly accessible automated external defibrillator at Drazer Memorial Park.
Within the past year, this is the fourth defibrillator installed in Porter County, which is trying to increase AED accessibility and become a HEARTSafe community. The defibrillator was installed by Sandberg Electric for free, donating labor.
“We’re a small town with a small budget, so when we were asked about this, we said absolutely”, Jim Smith said, town marshal for the Town of Kouts. “We’re proud to host it here, especially since there are only four of them in the community, and we hope this helps pave the way for other communities to follow.”
Defibrillators also were installed at SaveHeart Stations at Thomas Centennial Park in Chesterton and Central Park Plaza and Fairgrounds Park in Valparaiso.
The stations are meant to be used by the public to save anyone who might have a heart attack. They are shielded with transparent covers and climate control to ensure they can remain operational no matter what the weather is like.
“Here in south Porter County, having an AED available is important for our community,” said Orville Jefferson, building inspector for the town of Kouts. “This is the only one in the area, so it’s great to have. We hope people know it’s here, though hopefully we’ll never need to use it”.
