The 2023 Clinton County Fairgrounds now has a new safety feature that will be unseen to most, but has the capability of possibly saving a life, that being a recently obtained AED (Automated External Defibrillator).
Although that device is not commonly known among most people, it is well-known by those in the medical profession and is a device used to restart the heart in people who experience cardiac arrest or a heart attack.
According to Clinton County Fair Board President Mike Matthews, the device was purchased at a cost the fair board could afford with the assistance from EMS Director Lucas Abner, Clinton County Judge/Executive Ricky Craig and former long-time EMS employee Mark Thrasher.
Matthews said the AED was “easy to use” and “mobile.”
He said the fair board decided such equipment would be useful to have at the fairgrounds, so they contacted Abner and Craig to help find suppliers that could get them one at a price the fair board could afford.
A company, QuadMed, that is used by the county and local EMS for medical supplies, was able to supply the device at a discount. It also included a storage cabinet and first aid kit for the AED.
The potentially life saving device will not only be useful during fair week, at which time it will be stored in the main food booth–the most central location available–but throughout the year.
Matthews said the device will be at the main food booth, is portable and mobile, being able to be moved to wherever needed.
He said the device is put on a patient to send electric shocks to the heart and could be used by almost anyone.
“If you can read, you can use it,” Matthews noted, saying it is the type of device you don’t have to be trained for to use. “Even if you did something wrong (in hooking up the device) it would not hurt the person. It’s fail safe.”
Matthews noted his wife Christy, who is a nurse, had the original idea of trying to secure such a device for fairgrounds use and said it financially may not have been possible without the help of the EMS Director and County Judge.
Matthews also said Abner got Thrasher involved and he also helped in finding someone to provide the device at a cost the fair board could afford.
The other 51 weeks out of the year, the AED will be stored in the main building at the fairgrounds.
Matthews said that the building was used frequently throughout the year for various activities and gatherings and the device would be available if needed when being used for those types of gatherings.