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Community Corner

AED Donation Helps North Suburban YMCA Ensure Cardiac Safety

In a proactive step to protect the health and well-being of its members, the North Suburban YMCA has installed a new Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in its fitness center. The AED is now available for emergency use in cases of sudden cardiac arrest, a condition that is usually fatal unless treated within minutes.

 

This lifesaving device came to the Y via a grant from the Jennifer Lynn Snyder Teen Heart Foundation, a local organization dedicated to preventing deaths from SCA. The Foundation was created by Michele Snyder, a Northbrook resident whose teenage daughter Jennifer suffered fatal SCA in 2008 while playing soccer in a Glenview park. Knowing that Jennifer might have been saved had there been an AED in that park, Michele Snyder made it her mission to place AEDs in public parks and facilities throughout the community. To date, the Foundation has placed seven AED units in Northbrook, has raised awareness of the importance of CPR training, and has provided screening tests for heart problems in teens.

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The Y was selected as an AED recipient because of the high volume of participants exercising at the facility, including a large number of young people. Thousands of people visit the Y each week to swim, run, dance, and work out in fitness classes or on cardio equipment. Although the Y already had one AED on the premises, the new unit will be strategically placed to enable anyone to respond more quickly to emergencies throughout the facility. All Y employees, including personal trainers, lifeguards, and childcare teachers, receive certification in CPR and AED use.

“The safety of everyone using the Y is our top priority,” commented Howard Schultz, NSYMCA Executive Director/CEO. “The Teen Heart Foundation’s donation helps to ensure that we will be ready to help anyone who suffers SCA in our facility.”

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“We’re delighted to partner with the Y to reach our goal of making Northbrook a heart-safe community,” noted Michele Snyder. “The protection we are providing at the Y and elsewhere is a wonderful legacy for Jenny.”

About the North Suburban YMCA

The North Suburban YMCA is a not-for-profit entity and relies on donations to fund capital improvements and transform the facility. All board members are community volunteers, who donate their time, talents and financial resources.  Located at 2705 Techny Road in Northbrook, the YMCA has served area families in its fifteen-city region for 45 years.  The Y is about youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility, providing programs and services that meet the needs of our community and are accessible to all.  For more information or to make a donation, call Barb Flanagin at 847-272-7250, bflanagin@nsymca.org, or visit www.nsymca.org.

About The Teen Heart Foundation

The Jennifer Lynn Snyder Teen Heart Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to create heart-safe communities by placing Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and implementing Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs to reduce Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in our youth.  The organization was founded in memory of 17-year-old Jenny Snyder who suffered a Sudden Cardiac Arrest while playing soccer in Glenview, Illinois in 2008. An Automated External Defibrillator (AED), the only definitive method to resuscitate Jenny, was not available on-site. Since its inception in 2009, the Jennifer Lynn Snyder Teen Heart Foundation has worked to make Northbrook and its neighboring communities safer by placing publicly accessible AEDs in high-traffic locations such as parks and playing fields.  For more information, visit www.teenheartfoundation.org.

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