Community Aid Station installed at New Washington restaurant

Brooke McAfee, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·2 min read

Dec. 6—NEW WASHINGTON — The Clark County Health Department is providing a rural community with a resource that will help save lives in emergency situations.

On Monday, a Community Aid Station was installed at Sweathogs Bar & Grill, located at 305 Ind. 62 in New Washington. The station is equipped with an automated external defibrillator (AED), Stop the Bleed Kit and Narcan.

Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel said the goal is to offer live-saving care for uncontrolled bleeding, overdoses and cardiac events, which are leading causes of out-of-hospital deaths.

The Community Aid Station is registered on PulsePoint, a mobile app connected to the Clark County 9-1-1- system. PulsePoint immediately notifies CPR-trained bystanders if someone is suffering a sudden cardiac arrest or if someone is unconscious in a public area and tells them the location of the closest AED station.

The Community Aid Station was supported through the IN CAREs grant from the state, which covered about $1,300 for the New Washington installation. The grant aims to strengthen overdose prevention in Indiana.

Although the health department has installed a few stations throughout the county, they have mainly been located in more populated communities such as Jeffersonville and Clarksville, according to Yazel. The New Washington Community Aid Station is the sixth or seventh to be installed in Clark County, he said.

"Our goal is to have one in essentially every community in the county within 10 minutes or less," Yazel said. "It's important to reach out to rural communities that may have a longer response time for healthcare."

Yazel said they were seeking non-traditional partners such as bars and restaurants, since they are open at extended hours.

"A lot of healthcare facilities outside emergency departments are a 9-to-5 kind of thing," he said. "A lot of these issues don't happen during those hours, so it's important to have nontraditional access points."

In addition to installing the Community Aid Station, the Clark County Health Department will offer CPR and Narcan training for employees of the restaurant.

"New Washington always has a strong sense of community volunteerism, so they were the perfect candidate," Yazel said. "Sweathogs stepped up and was excited to be involved. I hope this brings in other community partners to do this too."