LANCASTER, Pa. — The
plodding horse and buggy clomping down your street might be concealing some
surprisingly advanced technology.
Amish in Paradise
Township, who generally shun technology, are learning how to save lives with
automated external defibrillators, or AEDs.
More than 50 members of
the rural community, about half of them Amish, recently participated in
training to deliver a lifesaving shock in the case of sudden cardiac arrest.
Volunteers were outfitted
with 20 AEDs — disbursed at schools, barns, churches and even buggies — to cut
down response time on the nation’s leading cause of death.
“We took a group of people
who are not exposed to computers, video games or automobiles, and within
minutes they were able to follow the voice prompts of the AED,” said James
Weber of the Manheim Township Ambulance Association, who leads the training.
“One of the biggest tenets
of the Amish is community service,” he said. “They reject technology, but they
recognize sudden cardiac arrest is such a public health crisis, they are
stepping forward to serve as first responders.”
Plain sects account for
nearly half of Paradise Township’s residents. Weber has been working on a plan
to get them involved with emergency response for eight months.
“They finally got to the point where they understood the
practical value and they’re now on board and responding to AED calls,” Weber
said.
SOURCE: Beaver County Times