| Indianapolis – This morning, Monday, December 12, 2016, the Bolt For The Heart (BFTH) foundation continued to deliver on the promise to equip Indiana State Police patrol vehicles with lifesaving Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) with the gift of 95 additional AED’s. This was in addition to the more than 50 AED’s presented to ISP in March of this year. At the presentation event, held at the State Fairgrounds’ Indiana Farm Bureau Building, the Superintendent of the Indiana State Police, Doug Carter, thanked Pierre Twer, founder of the BFTH organization. Additional speakers present at today’s donation event were members of the various organizations that made today’s donation event possible: Jon Goble, president of IU Health North Central Region, Greg Dedinsky MD, cardiac surgeon from Columbus Regional Health, and Lt. David Kirkham, president of the Indiana State Police Alliance. What truly helped bring home the importance and significance of the donation of AED’s was the personal story story shared by Pastor Daniel Schumm, of Cornerstone Lutheran Church, Carmel. His recounting of how an AED being present at the right place, and at the right time, cemented in everyone’s mind the lifesaving capability of an AED when it’s readily available. More About Bolt For The Heart The donation of the AED’s to the state police was borne the result of an experience Pierre Twer had while running in the 2010 Boston Marathon. During that race Pierre witnessed another marathon runner suffer a cardiac arrest. That runner was saved by an AED. This inspired Pierre to collaborate with Heart Reach Carmel and establish the Bolt for the Heart 5K Family Thanksgiving Run, of which 2016 was the fifth year for the run and the second consecutive year the Indiana State Police was the primary recipient of the AED’s. Since its inception, this 5K run has grown from 41 runners to more than 2,800 that participated this past Thanksgiving Day. Each year since the run started 100% of the proceeds have been used to purchase AED’s for donation to not for profit organizations. In 2015, the Board of Directors of Bolt for the Heart identified the Indiana State Police as the recipient of AED’s from funds raised in the 2015 Thanksgiving Day run, which ISP Supt. Carter was also a registered runner. In fact Supt. Carter ran the entire 5K run in full state police uniform! At the conclusion of the press conference attending troopers were issued their AED’s and placed window stickers on their patrol cars to easily identify the police vehicle was equipped with an AED. History & Source of AED’s Donated to ISP Through BFTH: 2014 = Bolt Donation Day                                         5 AED’s 2015 = Bolt for the Heart Race, Presented in 2016  55 AED’s 2016 = IU Health Donation Day                               15 AED’s 2016 = IU Health Additional Surprise                      50 AED’s 2016 = Indiana State Police Alliance                        10 AED’s 2016 = IU Health Community Engagement Dept     30 AED’s 2016 = Bolt for the Heart Race                                  50 AED’s 215 AED’s For more information about Bolt for the Heart visit: http://boltfortheheart.com/ |
