Contributed A.E.D. Unit Key to Saving Life

Rapid response while equipped with an automated external defibrillator (A.E.D.) that had been contributed by Doric Lodge No. 630, Sewickley, enabled Robinson Township Patrolman Dan Dugan, to play a key role in saving the life of 46 year-old Don Soto of Center Township, Beaver County.

On June 23, Soto was at a pool with a group from his church when he collapsed from cardiac arrest. Patrolman Dugan, who was on patrol with the A.E.D. unit in his car, arrived at the pool before the ambulance. A registered nurse among the church group, along with a friend, was performing C.P.R. when he arrived with the defibrillator. It was the first time the patrolman had used the device, which delivered three shocks to Soto before the paramedics arrived and took over.

Robinson Township Chief of Police, Bro. Dale Vietmeier, a member of Avalon Lodge No. 657, Pittsburgh, said that the department has two A.E.D. units that were contributed by Doric Lodge in January. One is carried in a patrol car on each side of the township. Both Doric Lodge and Avalon Lodge are in the 47th Masonic District.