SALAMANCA — The Salamanca City Central School District recently received Defibtech’s fully automated DC-AED lifeline, carrying case, Curaplex Stop the Bleed kit, and AED program management software from the Operation AED program through Sports Image.
Karen Magala, assistant director of finance and operations, applied for the grant program in May, and the AED arrived in November. She said the free package of equipment for the district’s athletic program was worth $2,500 to her.
The Operation AED program is operated by Sports Image’s Community Assistance Program. For this grant, Magala collaborated with Charlie Hill of Sports Image.
“What I enjoy about this project is that I actually started this program because my manager was present at the Damar Hamlin incident in Cincinnati last year,” Hill said.
During a Jan. 2 game against the Bengals, the Buffalo Bills safety went into cardiac arrest after being tackled. Hamlin received CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) before being taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
“From there, we started this program because we noticed an increase in cardiac arrest situations among students,” Hill said. “Since then, we have been slowly working to expand our reach to as many schools as possible.”
Salamanca Athletic Director Chad Bartoszek indicated that an AED will be installed in the health room at Seneca Middle School.
The district also received a banner identifying itself as a sponsor of free AEDs. His AED in Salamanca was sponsored by Universal Primary Care.