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STATE FREEMASONS HAVE HEART IN MIND by DAVID LA TORRE, The Morning Call Pennsylvania Freemasons are gearing up to raise more than $1 million to help heart attack victims by putting defibrillators in communities across the state. The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, commonly known as Freemasons, expects to purchase and donate at least 300 portable defibrillators over the next two years to organizations in local communities that need them the most, such as fire departments and ambulance services. The Freemasons' initiative is an outgrowth of the American Heart Association's Operation Heartbeat, a campaign to increase public awareness and support for strengthening the chance of surviving a heart attack. Known as an automatic external defibrillator, the device is a small, lightweight, user-friendly machine that can be used by people without extensive medical training to treat someone suffering a heart attack. A defibrillator shocks the heart back into a normal rhythm. Local Freemason lodges will be responsible for raising $3,800 to cover the total costs of each device, including training and community awareness campaigns. Each lodge then will designate an organization in its community for the defibrillator. Prabhat Kumar, worshipful master of Freemasons' Jordan Lodge 673 in Allentown, said his organization won't vote on the project until the end of the month but added raising $3,800 won't be difficult if it's approved. "We're very supportive of it," he said. The defibrillator is "very easy to operate and can be placed in police cars since they're typically the first ones to arrive at the scene." Heart Association spokesman Samuel Monismith said use of the device is essential because heart attack sufferers must have their heart rhythm corrected within 10 minutes to have any chance for survival. Heart disease and heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States and Pennsylvania. Nationally, sudden cardiac arrest strikes more than 250,000 people annually; only 5 percent survive. The Heart Association estimates that as many as 50,000 additional lives could be saved each year if more victims had faster access to defibrillation. For each minute that passes without defibrillation, the survival rate drops about 10 percent. "Having an AED readily available makes it more likely that defibrillation can be administered sooner, which increases a cardiac arrest victim's chance of full recovery," Monismith said. Robert Dluge Jr., grand master of the Pennsylvania Freemasons, said he hopes to raise enough money for 500 defibrillators, which would surpass the 482 Freemason lodges across the state. "There are few communities in this state that don't need one," he said. The Freemasons is the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world. About 150,000 Freemasons reside in Pennsylvania. Membership is limited to men at least 21 years of age. |
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