Page 17 - Wallingford Magazine Issue 53 Early Spring 2025

Saf
Safer in W allingfor d
er
in Wallingford

ublic health and safety remains paramount. That’s than 370 AEDs, machines that
Pwhy our Health Department has organized an im- would otherwise cost a small
portant initiative that takes place on the last Tuesday fortune to obtain.
of the month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This two-hour
course trains people to properly provide CPR (cardio- The town now has an AED in
pulmonary resuscitation) and to use an AED (Automat- every public park, Town Hall,
ed External Defibrillator). Parks & Rec and every public
school. Of course, the Police De-
The training is hands on. It ends with a test which, once partment and Fire Department
passed, gives you certification to perform high-quality have them as well, with many
CPR, and to use an AED. This course is open to the pub- employees there trained to use
lic and there is no charge. them.
I recently attended the class at Town Hall with about For more information or to sign
a dozen other municipal employees. I was impressed up for the class, call the Health Mayor Vincent Cervoni
with how comprehensive the training was, and that Department at 203-294-2065.
we left with the knowledge and skills that, in an emer-
gency, could save someone’s life. I want to thank our Health Department for this life-sav-
ing training, and Mike Papale and his In A Heartbeat
We practiced the CPR technique, and learned how to foundation for providing the invaluable equipment.
use the AED on a dummy. The AED machines came We in Wallingford are all safer for their hard work.
from a Wallingford foundation, In A Heartbeat. Found-
er Mike Papale survived a cardiac arrest at age 17, be-
cause a person nearby was trained in CPR, perform-
ing it until an ambulance arrived. Years later, Papale
started In A Heartbeat to give back for his miraculous
recovery. To date, In A Heartbeat has donated more

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