Conway Regional donates AED to help cover youth sports at Curtis Walker Park

Conway Regional Health Foundation has donated an AED to cover the youth athletic programs at Curtis Walker Park.

The presentation was made prior to the kickoff of the Conway Noon Optimist Club’s youth football program on Sept. 17. “We were honored that Conway Regional would help ensure the safety of our players and families by donating the AED,” said Nick Toal, commissioner of the Noon Optimist Club Football League.  

Toal said the AED will provide safety coverage for the sports programs when the Conway Fire Department is unavailable on a call.

“Part of being USA Football certified is preventing accidents, so we want to be as safe as possible with the kids, parents and grandparents,” Toal said. “Chances of survival from a heart event are 10 times greater if you have an AED on site.”

An AED is a device about the size of a laptop computer that analyzes the heart’s rhythm for any abnormalities and, if necessary, directs the rescuer to deliver an electrical shock to the victim. This shock, called defibrillation, may help the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm of its own. A defibrillator is the only known device/technique that stops chaotic electrical heart activity to allow the heart to re-pace itself to a normal rhythm.

Toal added, “We would not have had the means to buy the AED ourselves without their help. It means a lot to our program and it speaks to Conway Regional’s commitment to touching the lives of the citizens of Conway.”

The Noon Optimist Club’s football league has 10 teams with 28 to 30 fourth through sixth grade children on each team. In additional to Optimist football, the park is the home of the Conway Youth Baseball program and the Conway Braves.

Conway Regional has donated 55 other AEDs to schools, ballparks and fitness centers throughout Faulkner County since 2008. The AEDs are funded through the Conway Regional Health Foundation. For more information, visit conwayregional.org/Foundation.