SMART and SAD –

July 4, 2023 – Now, more than 300 public, indoor locations countywide with automatic external defibrillators — known as AEDs — are also stocked with life-saving naloxone so that it is close at hand no matter where someone may need it.

“It’s important for people to, one, know the problem exists. Two, know what to do about it. And, three, have the tool to do something about it,” Starting Hearts regional director Jackie Christiansen said. 

Starting Hearts, a nonprofit dedicated to saving lives of sudden cardiac arrest victims through free CPR and AED training, teamed up with the Summit County’s Public Health Department to distribute naloxone countywide, Christiansen said.

The severity of the opioid epidemic in recent years led Starting Hearts to begin incorporating the basics of responding to an opioid overdose in their free “Call. Push. Shock.” training, which teaches CPR and how to use an AED to revive a sudden cardiac arrest victim.

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