‘Heartbreaking:’ Life-saving devices stolen from Bluffton. Now officials need your help
Two life-saving automated external defibrillators — which were purchased using donations from the community — were stolen in Bluffton over the weekend, according to an Arrhythmia Alliance news release.
Arrhythmia Alliance is a nonprofit working to “reduce deaths and impact on individuals caused by cardiac arrhythmias and their associated morbidities.” In layman’s terms, heart arrhythmia is a problem with the rate or rhythm of your heartbeat.
The AEDs were stolen out of public access defibrillation stations at the Bluffton Linear Trail and Alljoy Public Dock, the release said.
Both AEDs were installed in 2017 in partnership with the Bluffton Township Fire District. The fire district regularly checks the AEDs to make sure they’re in working order, spokesperson Lee Levesque said.
Levesque said this is the first time they’ve had an issue with the AEDs being vandalized or stolen.
“Hopefully, it is the last time,” he said.
“After all the hard work to raise the funds to ensure Bluffton is HEARTSafe, it is heartbreaking to now have two of our AED’s stolen,” Trudie Lobban, Arrhythmia Alliance founder said in the release.
Following the death of an 8-year-old Bluffton boy, the group campaigned to raise money to provide an AED to 31 Bluffton Police Department patrol cars. Those AEDs have been used to save multiple lives, according to a previous report in The Island Packet.
The AED itself costs about $1,600 and the cabinet to hold the device is another $500, the Packet previously reported.
“Sudden Cardiac Death can occur at anytime to anyone of any age — it would be a tragedy if a life was lost because these AEDs have been stolen,” Lobban said.
Anyone with information on the stolen AEDs should call the alliance at 843-415-1886.
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 3:23 PM with the headline "‘Heartbreaking:’ Life-saving devices stolen from Bluffton. Now officials need your help."
