Darien Has a Heart

Darien has been named a HeartSafe Community; and now it has a certificate and road signs to prove it.

The town received its official designation at a ceremony held Thursday, Sept. 24 in the Town Hall, before a small group of town officials. Chris Andresen, a manager with the Connecticut Department of Public Health's AIDS and chronic disease unit, presented the HeartSafe certificate and road signs to Selectwoman Callie Sullivan on behalf of the DPH in collaboration with the American Heart Association.

“The beautiful thing about HeartSafe is this is not a government mandate; it’s something that towns can live up to, and Darien has certainly lived up to it,” said Andreson.

The HeartSafe Community initiative, first introduced in Massachusetts, is a joint effort of the AHA and the DPH, which recognizes cities and towns that provide a strong “Chain of Survival” to its residents. The “chain” has four vital links: early access to emergency care, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), early advanced care and early defibrillation.

A population-based point system is used to determine a community’s qualification as HeartSafe. The points, called “heartbeats,” are allotted based on the strength of a town’s “chain.”

“Once we started gathering information, it became clear that Darien had more than enough lifesaving equipment and trained individuals to qualify,” said Director of Health David Knauf. “The town is really ahead of the curve. It was all there; it just needed to be pulled together.”

With help from a core group of dedicated public safety personnel, especially Emergency Management Director Marc McEwan, Public Health Nurse Molly Larson and Joan Gildea from Post 53, the town received its designation within a week of submitting the application this past summer.

“From the health department’s perspective, this was all done by others,” said Knauf.

In order to qualify as a HeartSafe community, all municipal buildings in town must be equipped with automated external defibrillators (AEDs), small boxes that can shock the heart back to proper rhythm; and several donors made that possible.

Knauf thanked Dave Campbell, president and CEO of Ring’s End Lumber and Republican First Selectman candidate, for his donation of AEDs to the Darien Police Department. Superintendent Donald Fiftal also received Knauf’s praise. Fiftal had equipped all Darien Public Schools long before Senator Jodi M. Rell signed a bill mandating AEDs in all Connecticut public schools this past June.

Knauf also thanked Colleen Harkey of the Darien/Stamford chapter of American Red Cross, Darien’s Medical Advisor Dr. Caleb Moore, Health Office Administrator Elaine Kilbourn, Director of Health Services Ellen Ryan and the police and fire departments for their commitment to the health and wellbeing of Darien.

“I feel so very proud to be here and to be a part of the community,” said Knauf. “We’re in really good shape, and I think we’re very fortunate.”

Darien is the 39th town in Connecticut to receive the HeartSafe designation, and the initiative continues to grow.