Heart Safe

East Bethel is a HEARTsafe community!
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Heart Safe Designation
Benefits of becoming a HEARTsafe community

Firefighter Troy Lachinski is leading the East Bethel community in its efforts to grow and maintain its designation as a HEARTsafe community. The benefits of being a HEARTsafe community include a reduction in response time when identifying a sudden cardiac arrest, knowing what to do, where to find an AED, completing hands-only CPR and ultimately saving lives.

We gained this certification by completing the following:

  1. Ensured that Automatic External Defibrillators (AED's) are easily accessible to the community, and
  2. Educated a percentage of the public to recognize the signs of a sudden cardiac arrest, and
  3. Trained a percentage of the public to use AEDs and hands-only CPR.

The East Bethel HEARTsafe program is led by East Bethel's Fire Department, headed by firefighter Troy Lachinski. They will continue to recruit volunteers, hold training sessions on CPR and AED usage, identify locations of AEDs, and acquire more AEDs in public spaces.

There are grants available for AEDs. Contact Heart Safe East Bethel to find out more.

Minnesota has over 70 communities that are certified as HEARTsafe (updated June 2021), meaning they have completed trainings and have made AEDs readily accessible. East Bethel has become one of these communities by empowering bystanders to act quickly during those first, crucial minutes a patient is affected.

Trainings

Trainings are free of charge and held at various locations in East Bethel. The training provided will be "Bystander CPR" which is compression only CPR and does not include giving breaths. Training also includes hands on training and understanding of Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs). This is not a certification but rather life training that never expires. If you would like to schedule a training session at your East Bethel business, please contact Heart Safe East Bethel.

Our Goals

  • Train 10% of East Bethel's population in bystander CPR and AED use.
  • Have businesses train at least one staff per shift.
  • Sustainability of our HEARTsafe community
    • Primary: Have an AED available at businesses where people congregate
    • Secondary: Have an AED available at every business

About AED's

AED's have several different appearances, but they all work the same general way. They are designed to be easily used during a time of panic. The directions are printed on the device and tell you how and where to apply the pads and how to proceed. 

Registering and Maintenance of your AED

The Minnesota AED Registry is a free AED maintenance tool that allows AED owners free online management of AEDs, AED battery and electrode expiration email reminders, notifications from manufacturer or government agencies and the ability to participate in the AED link system where available. Here are directions on how to register your AED. For more information, here is Allina's Guide to maintenance, registration and more!

Become Involved!

If you would like to get involved, please contact Troy Lachinski with the Heart Safe East Bethel Program, or call him at (763) 350-9060.