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City, donors and fire department install AED towers in Ocoee parks; devices remotely monitored
Summary
City staff and donors completed installation of five AED stations across five parks. Donor Martha Lopez Anderson contributed multiple AED units and cabinets; city will include the new devices in quarterly checks and a replacement budget for pads and batteries.
The Ocoee Fire Department and Parks & Leisure staff on July 15 announced completion of a project to install automatic external defibrillator (AED) stations at five city parks, funded in part by donations and city resources.
Fire department staff describe AEDs as portable devices that analyze heart rhythm and, when appropriate, instruct users to deliver a shock; early defibrillation can improve survival after sudden cardiac arrest. The new park locations are Wellness Park, Liberty Park, Jim Beech Center (soccer fields), Freedom Park and Prairie Lake Park; an earlier donor‑funded station remains at Bill Breeze Park by the boat ramp.
The nut graf: The project added four new tower cabinets plus an existing donor‑provided cabinet, five AED units donated by Martha Lopez Anderson and Parent Heart Watch, and remote monitoring for operational status—intended to reduce response time for cardiac events that can affect people of all ages in parks.
Deputy Chief Van Camp and EMS Captain John Ward handled deployment and testing. Each station and cabinet is remotely monitored: the system notifies fire staff if a door opens, if pads or batteries expire, or if an AED is removed; the cabinet also photographs the person who opens it. The devices will be included in the fire department’s existing quarterly physical inspection program and budgeted for pad and battery replacement (pads and batteries are replaced every two years by policy).
Donor Martha Lopez Anderson, who said she lives in Ocoee and gave the devices in memory of her son, urged residents not to be afraid to use AEDs and reminded the public that 911 dispatchers can instruct callers to perform CPR while they wait for EMS. Commissioners thanked the fire department and donors; staff credited cross‑department cooperation among parks, facilities and development services for identifying sites and completing electrical work.
