Former NHL Players Push For More Automated Defibrilators
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A group of Minnesota NHL alumni want to make a safety device a bigger part of sporting events.
Former professional hockey player Brad Maxwell is teaming up with law enforcement to donate automated external defibrillators -- or AED's -- to more communities and rinks.
Now, the groups want to see a new state law passed that would require places with public announcements to also announce where an AED is located, if there is one in the vicinity.
Maxwell says the possibility of someone in the crowd or on the ice going into cardiac arrest is very real at all types of hockey games.
During cardiac arrest, the heart suddenly stops beating often without warning.
"We want people to know when you walk into building and see an AED it is not just for EMT's it is for the public to use," Maxwell said.
Maxwell and about 75 hockey alumnus from Minnesota teamed up with Coon Rapids Police officer Bryan Platz who works with HEARTSafe, an organization that donates AED's to communities.
"Early defibrillation can help saves lives in the first crucial minutes of cardiac arrest," Platz said.
Platz says anyone can use the almost $2,000 devices because it talks users through exactly what to do.
The group "NHL Hockey Alumni" has donated 30 AED's to community rinks across the state in the last few years, but they say one obstacle remains: people at the games often do not know where the AED is located.
"It just becomes part of the clutter and you just don't notice it," Platz said.
That is why Platz and Maxwell said they are working with state lawmakers on a bill that would require any events that have public announcements across the state to also include an announcement saying where the AED is located if there is one in the vicinity.
"It's not a matter of if, it is a matter of when, and it's going to save many lives," Platz said.
The group is hopeful the bill will be heard by the end of this legislative session.
