By Kathleen D. Bailey
The Union Leader (Manchester NH)
Copyright 2007 Union Leader Corp.
All Rights Reserved
EPPING, N.H. — Kristine DeSoto, Ashley Hill and Rebecca Toomire haven’t personally been touched by heart disease, but they’re hoping to touch others through the Epping Fire Department Explorer Post’s latest fundraiser.
The girls and their 15 colleagues in the post are raising money to equip all Epping town buildings with Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs). In doing this, they hope to also raise awareness of the machines, which can save lives faster than CPR.
According to DeSoto, the post was influenced by Matt Keene, a student at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden who suffered a heart attack last fall while playing football. The school had an AED, and when the electrodes were applied to Keene’s chest, his heart started again. Keene set a goal to raise money for defibrillators for all the schools in his hometown of Berlin and neighboring Gorham, and the Epping students decided to do the same.
Toomire said: “What touched us the most was that he was in high school, an athlete, and this machine saved him. Then he took it upon himself to raise money for more. It’s an awesome thing to be a part of.”
“We saw his mother on a video, and his family and friends,” DeSoto said. “It was important to us to see the people his life affected.”
Their concern was brought closer to home when a 19-year-old employee at the Epping Wal-Mart suffered the same type of heart failure while leaving work and her vehicle crashed into the woods behind the store. The Epping ambulance arrived while a Wal-Mart employee was administering CPR, and the woman was “shocked” twice and is alive today.
Cliff Cray, Epping fire captain and adviser for the post, said the machines usually cost $1,295. Through a state grant, the post has an opportunity to obtain the units for $700 each.
Cray said Fire Chief Brian Toomire, who is Rebecca’s father, has a goal of seeing defibrillators in every town building: the three schools, the Watson Academy recreation building, Town Hall and Harvey-Mitchell Library.
The group is $100 short of its first unit, having raised $600 in donations at a booth during town elections. The Explorers are helping with the meal preparation at Speak Up, Epping!, to be held Saturday, April 14, and will have a collection jar available.
In addition, Cray has written letters to the town’s businesses, including Wal-Mart, Lowe’s and the new Walgreen’s, urging them to invest in defibrillators.
Post members also plan to go to local businesses and ask for donations toward the town defibrillators. And if they still come up short, Cray said, “we’re pretty good at car washes.”
The girls are all certified to use an AED, if the situation comes up. So far it hasn’t, but they’ve watched other trained personnel save lives with one.
“Watching how an AED saves someone’s life is incredible,” Hill said. “It’s so much faster than CPR.”