San Diego Project Heartbeat manager says program has placed more than 11,000 AEDs and credited them with saving lives

Maureen O'Connor, PAD program manager for San Diego Project Heartbeat, said the regional public-access defibrillator program has placed more than 11,000 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) across San Diego County and credited the devices with saving roughly 213 lives, including five children.

"AED stands for automated external defibrillator," O'Connor said, describing the device as "the therapy that's needed for a cardiac arrest victim." She ran through a short responder script meant for bystanders — checking for responsiveness and breathing, and telling someone nearby, "Go get the AED." O'Connor also said the program is entering its 23rd year.

The program manager framed placement of AEDs as paired with education: she emphasized teaching the public how to recognize cardiac arrest and how to respond quickly. "No response. No breathing. Go get the AED," she said, using the commands to illustrate how simple, scripted directions can guide a rescuer.

O'Connor described the work as personally rewarding and noted she is approaching 30 years of city employment. She encouraged others to consider similar careers in emergency services and public health, saying she had originally wanted to be a firefighter and that working with the program has been "the cherry on top" of a job she loves.

The session included a separate, unstructured set of remarks by another participant that did not address the AED program or policy matters. The presentation in the transcript focused on public education, device placement and O'Connor's account of program outcomes.

The claims about device counts and lives saved were reported by O'Connor in the transcript and were not independently verified in the recorded remarks. The transcript itself contains a numeric artifact (rendered there as "2 13") that was interpreted in this article as "213" saves; that interpretation is noted in clarifying details.