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Lions Club and Teddy’s Heart Foundation donate two public AED stations to St. Paul Park
Summary
The Lions Club Saint Paul Park chapter and Teddy's Heart Foundation presented two AED safe‑station units to the City of St. Paul Park on June 16, to be installed at the Lion Shack and Heritage Park; presenters said the units will be accompanied by community training and noted the foundation has placed two dozen units in neighboring communities.
The City of St. Paul Park accepted two automated external defibrillator (AED) safe stations donated by the Lions Club Saint Paul Park chapter and Teddy’s Heart Foundation at the June 16 council meeting.
A Lions Club representative said one unit is already installed and operational at the Lion Shack near Broadway and the railroad tracks and the second will be located at Heritage Park. The club described the donation as part of Lions Club International’s humanitarian work to “improve health and well‑being” and encouraged the city to notify the club of additional community needs.
Craig Dowdle of Teddy’s Heart Foundation described the foundation’s origin after his family’s loss and its mission to place AEDs in public parks and train community members in hands‑only CPR and AED use. “If there was an AED, we may not be standing right here talking about it,” Dowdle said, describing the loss of his son to sudden cardiac arrest while playing basketball. He and his wife, Emily, told council their group has placed 24 AEDs across Cottage Grove, Woodbury, St. Paul Park and Stillwater and plans to continue placements.
Council members thanked the Lions Club and the foundation for the donation and acknowledged the units as a community safety improvement. The presenters noted cooperative training with local fire departments to teach bystanders how to use AEDs and perform hands‑only CPR.
Why it matters: Publicly accessible AEDs and bystander training increase the chance of survival from out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest when devices and trained responders are available on scene. The new units add two permanent, publicly accessible AED locations in St. Paul Park.
