Defibrillators topic of Huntington forum

Hoping to increase awareness about the importance of large organizations having automated external defibrillators available for emergencies, the Town of Huntington will co-host a free, informational forum on the device known as the AED.

The Sudden Cardiac Awareness Forum will be held Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at Huntington Town Hall and will feature medical experts and offer legal advice and information on what’s involved with setting up an AED program, including training for employees for an organization, business or place of worship.

“Our objective is to educate people to the importance of making an AED as readily accessible as possible,” said Don McKay, who oversees Huntington’s program as its director of parks and recreation. “Our target audience are large corporations, businesses with, say, 300 employees who don’t have an AED, a large place of worship, all of these places should have an AED.”

The forum is being co-hosted by North Shore LIJ Huntington Hospital, The Louis J. Acompora Memorial Foundation and the Dominic A. Murray 21 Memorial Foundation.

There will be several speakers including cardiac arrest survivors and first responders.

“We will tell people where they can purchase an AED, how much they cost and the steps to setting up a AED program for their office,” McKay said. “We will also have an attorney on hand to talk about liability and the good samaritan law.”

For more information or to register, call 631-351-3309 or email McKay at dmckay@huntingtonny.gov

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