The project began when Joe Lewis, a pre-med junior who is also a National Registry Emergency Medical Technician (Basic) and a paramedic student, brought to President King’s attention that KWC owns just two AEDs to cover a 63-acre campus. An AED must be used within three minutes for greatest success.

With the grant from OMHS’ Community Benefit Program, KWC will place the devices in more accessible areas to better serve the needs of students, faculty, and staff. “The additions of AEDs will be a much needed resource as the campus continues to expand and evolve in future years,” Lewis said. “I am grateful that OMHS could make this endeavor possible.”

The AEDs will be mounted in wall cabinets throughout campus, and residence life staff, athletic coaches and faculty and staff will undergo training to learn how to operate them.

According to the American Heart Association, more than 92 percent of people who experience sudden cardiac arrest outside a hospital do not survive. Communities with comprehensive CPR and AED programs, however, have achieved survival rates of 40 percent or higher.

KWC’s AED program will benefit the more than 1,000 students, faculty and staff on campus, as well as the hundreds of members of the Owensboro community who visit campus each year for presentations, programs and sporting events.

The AED grant is part of nearly $200,000 that OMHS gave to Owensboro organizations  in its second round of Community Benefit funding this year.