Organizations get training and donated AEDs from Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Organizations started training on AED’s gifted by the Packers after Damar Hamlin’s health scare earlier this year.

D.J. sweet drove up from Milwaukee for this 3-hour Bellin Health AED and CPR training today. Sweet works for a public school in Milwaukee. It’s one of the organizations picked to receive an automated external defibrillator, paid for by the Green Bay Packers.

“We’re super excited. We had a situation happen in our school this year, and we didn’t have an AED there. And it was pretty scary, knowing that we didn’t really have the tools needed to save someone’s life if it came to that,” said DJ Sweet, the Athletic Director, Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate.

More than 375 organizations applied for a donated AED. 80 were chosen, dispersed throughout Wisconsin and the U.P. to make rural areas are covered.

“This wasn’t just based all around, you know, the Green Bay immediate area. Because if you’re, you know, maybe let’s say 20 minutes away from an EMTs or paramedics and they can put that on and they can assess it,” said Mark Husen, with Business and Growth Development at Bellin Health.

“A lot of it determined in the number of people that’s going to serve because we wanted to make sure that it was a big pool of guests that would maybe be at a sporting event,” said Cathy Dworak, the Director of Community Outreach with the Green Bay Packers.

The organizations that completed the mandatory training with Bellin Health take home their AED today

“So literally they’ll be able to use this device tonight,” said Husen.

They also get some medical supplies, a traveling case and a wall mounting case to keep it secure until needed.

“The plan is to train the staff on how to use it and give them a CPR refresher. And we’re probably going to put it right outside the gym. So easy access for the most likely area where situation like that will happen,” said Sweet.

15 organizations completed the training today, the rest will complete theirs in the coming weeks. More resources can be found on the Packers website.

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