In Memory Of A Life Lost, AED Housed In Bittner Park May Save A Life

GUILFORD, CT — Bittner Park on Durham Road is Guilford's largest, most frequented and popular recreation area, is home to trails for hikers, walkers, horseback riders and cross-country skiers.

And now, it's home to a life-saver.

Guilford Parks and Recreation Department shared that the first-ever Automated External Defibrillator, an AED, was installed at the park this week.

According to the town, a couple of months ago, Guilford residents Robert and Melissa Shaw reached out to Parks & Rec director Rick Maynard about donating an AED to the town.

An AED is used to revive someone from a sudden cardiac arrest, more commonly known as a heart attack. According to the Mayo Clinic, it happens "when a disruption in the heart's electrical activity causes a dangerously fast heartbeat —ventricular tachycardia — or a fast and irregular heartbeat — ventricular fibrillation. Either of these irregular heart rhythms keeps the heart from pumping effectively and can cause it to stop." During an attack, "the brain and other vital organs don't get the blood and oxygen they need." But "treatment within minutes" can prevent death. That's where the AED comes in. "A bystander in a public place or a family member can use it to jolt the heart back to a regular rhythm," Mayo notes. "Using the AED could possibly save a life."

The life-saving device was purchased with funds raised at the Ianniello Golf Classic.

The annual tournament is in memory of Michael J. Ianniello who died in November 2002 at age 33.

As the AED needed to be housed in an outdoor cabinet, Mike Papale, founder of the Wallingford-based In a Heartbeat Foundation, offered to cover that expense.

The foundation was created n 2015 by Papale to raise money and awareness for sudden cardiac arrest and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

"Our mission is to spread the word about the importance of CPR and Automated External Defibrillators, as well as to provide AEDs and emergency training to organizations," according to its website.

In 2006, when he was 17, Papale suffered a heart attack. There was no AED on site, "but fortunately for Mike, an EMT working nearby was able to get to him in time, performing CPR for eight minutes and saving his life." He was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart muscle, and had a defibrillator implanted into his chest.

Without an AED on site, doctors said his chance of survival was one in a million