Manatee emergency services asks public to identify AED locations

Manatee County business owners can assist in a potentially life-saving improvement to public safety by completing an online directory of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public locations throughout the county.

Earlier this month, Manatee County fire officials and 911 announced the arrival of PulsePoint, a free mobile app that allows users to document public AED locations. It also offers a function to alert people trained in hands-only CPR when someone in a nearby public place suffers a cardiac arrest. 

“We’ve located more than 120 AEDs in public buildings and locations around the county so far, but we think there could be as many as 500 throughout Manatee County," Manatee County 911 Chief Jake Saur said in a press release. "PulsePoint becomes an even more powerful lifesaving tool the more we know where AEDs are located, so that Good Samaritans can begin CPR while others retrieve an AED to assist before paramedics arrive.”