Wilton Must Renew Its Dedication to Saving Lives

With great pride, Wilton received the HeartSafe Community designation on Feb. 21, 2012. Becoming a HeartSafe community is a wonderful achievement, but it is only the beginning of saving the lives of sudden cardiac arrest victims in our town.

The recent fatality at Stop & Shop has been my call to action. No one stepped up to perform bystander CPR, nor did the store have an AED. In fact, there are no AEDs at all in the 5 River Road Plaza or adjoining business area. The fact that bystander CPR was never initiated as well as the lack of a public access AED is not representative of a true HeartSafe community. A life was lost.

I am asking that Wilton town leaders join me in reviving education and awareness of sudden cardiac arrest, the importance of bystander CPR, AED availability and the goal of completing a pilot program for PulsePoint (a citizen-response app) by December 2015. The cost of integrating the PulsePoint system with our existing computer-aided dispatch (CAD) will cost about $20,000.

During the month of June, I am committed to holding “pop-up” CPR events around town, the first being in front of Village Market on Thursday, June 12, from 9 to 1.

On July 17 at 7 p.m., Trackside has graciously agreed to offer its facility free of charge for the presentation of an award-winning PSA entitled “Meet Tim,” followed by CPR training and discussion.

One person can make a difference, and two people can change the world.

Nancy R. Capelle, EMT, CET
Founder, Cardiac Companion, LLC
Stonecrop Lane, June 9