Bothwell Foundation presents life-saving AED to downtown Sedalia event venue

December 30, 2022

Wear Red for Women, a Bothwell Foundation committee, recently presented an automated external defibrillator (AED) to be placed at The Pavilion, an outdoor event venue in downtown Sedalia that is owned by Furnell Companies. An AED is a small, lightweight device that allows individuals and first responders to treat sudden cardiac arrest. The machine automatically analyzes the heart rhythm and when appropriate, it delivers an electrical shock to the heart to restore its normal rhythm.

According to an American Heart Association study, survival from cardiac arrest doubled when bystanders stepped in to use a publicly available automated external defibrillator rather than wait until emergency responders arrived.

Funds to purchase the device were raised during the 2022 Wear Red for Women luncheon and auction. The committee’s goal is to have AEDs in every place people work, learn, play or pray in Sedalia and Pettis County. Since the inception of the luncheon event in 2020, 47 AEDs have been placed in or committed to various locations. The 2023 Wear Red for Women event is Feb. 24, 2023.

From left: Susan Mergen, Wear Red for Women committee member; Dianne Simon, Thompson Hills Investment Corporation vice president and Lori Wightman, Bothwell Regional Health Center CEO and Wear Red committee co-chairs; Erica Eisenmenger, Furnell Investments Inc. vice president; Robin Balke, committee member; Lauren Thiel-Payne, Bothwell Foundation executive director; and Trish Henson and Rhonda Ahern, committee members

Bothwell Regional Health Center is a regional health center serving west-central Missouri with state-of-the-art technology and comprehensive health and wellness services including primary care, specialty care and emergency care. For more information about Bothwell and its services, visit www.brhc.org or find us on Facebook.

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