The Logan Health Foundation recently purchased fifteen Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) to be donated to local sports organizations in time for their spring seasons. Following an incident last summer where a local youth soccer player went into cardiac arrest and was saved by an AED provided by Logan Health, it became apparent that AEDs needed to be readily available at youth sporting events.
On Friday, March 11, Kelly Malmin, youth development manager at Logan Health, and Brittany Coburn, NP-C, program director of the Logan Health School-Based Health Center, presented the AEDs and instructions for how to use them to the following organizations: City of Kalispell, Kalispell Pee Wee Baseball, Kalispell Babe Ruth Baseball, Kalispell Youth Softball Association, Flathead Valley Football, Flathead Soccer Club, Columbia Falls Baseball, Project Whitefish Kids, Glacier Twins Baseball, and Flathead County Parks & Recreation. Standard CPR classes are available for those who wish to have additional training on the devices. In addition, all Logan Health athletic trainers, and school-based clinics are equipped with AEDs. Athletic trainers attend each varsity athletic event.
Logan Health is committed to the health and safety of our communities. Because an AED was available during the cardiac event last summer, that youth soccer player is alive today. The hope is that there are no more cardiac emergencies on the field; but that all are prepared should the unimaginable occur.