Fire Rescue News

In celebration of nationwide EMS Week, May 20-26, which honors all EMS workers, National EMS is giving back to the four communities they serve by providing life-saving Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) to the Fire and First Responders who cover their areas.

Chief Operating Officer Benny Atkins said that National EMS has donated twelve AEDs to the Fire and First Responder units in the four counties served by National EMS, which includes Rockdale, Morgan, Athens-Clarke, and Oconee Counties. “This is our time to show our appreciation to our dedicated First Responders who serve with our staff each day on the medical front lines,” Atkins said.

The theme for this year’s EMS Week is “Stronger Together”, which recognizes the strong collaboration that EMS has with all of their First Responders. Atkins said that National EMS recognizes the important contributions of our First Responder partners and are very proud to provide them with these life-saving devices during EMS Week.

“EMS is a small part of a big team, and we are really stronger when we all work as a team,” Atkins said.

The American Heart Association encourages early recognition, early CPR, and early AED, which is the only effective treatment for restoring heart rhythm following a cardiac arrest. The AEDs, which cost approximately $1,400 each, are a standard for First Responders, and will provide lifesaving time since the first three to five minutes of a sudden cardiac arrest are very critical to the survival of a patient who is having a heart attack.

“Our staff of EMTs and Paramedics value our First Responders, who work as a team to provide the best possible prehospital care for our communities,” Atkins said.