By Kayode Crown
al.com
MADISON COUNTY, Ala. — Mark Russell was refereeing a high school football game in Huntsville when the unexpected happened in 2017.
“That night I had a cardiac incident,” Russell, now 61, recounted in an interview with AL.com this month. “Had some blockage in my heart, had the widowmaker and immediately fell over sometime in the first half of the game and fell face first onto the ground and was out.”
An off-duty cardiac nurse, who was at the game as a volunteer photographer was right behind him, and an ambulance was nearby. The nurse started CPR, and emergency technicians delivered an electric shock to restore his heart rhythm using an automated external defibrillator, or AED.
Having the right people in the right places was lifesaving, said Russell, a former Huntsville council member, and the current executive director of the Huntsville Sports Commission.
“They…shocked me back to life,” Russell said.
Years later, Russell hopes his story can galvanize the public to support an initiative spearheaded by the Huntsville Hospital Foundation to provide hundreds of AEDs in Madison County, with Huntsville Hospital, the American Heart Association, and the sports commission as partners.
“I think I have to go out and tell my story … that this happened to me and these people saved me that I didn’t even know, and they saved me, and it happened so fast that if they didn’t save me, there wouldn’t be me,” he said.
Launched in November 2023, Sarah Savage-Jones, president of the foundation, said the three-year project, “Heartbeat Heroes: Powering Play through AEDs,” seeks to raise $1 million for 500 AEDs across Madison County, covering schools, recreational facilities, and sporting venues. In this year’s budget, Huntsville supported the initiative with $20,000 for 10 devices.
A city of Huntsville spokesperson stated it has received the devices.
The project has also received additional funding from the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville’s Compass Society, Rocket City Classic basketball game fundraiser and Alpha Foundation through the American Heart Association, according to Savage-Jones.
“We’ve gotten some funding from our governmental partners. We are asking for private donors to help too,” Savage-Jones said.
She said one machine costs $2,000 and that the project has already reached 25% of its $1 million goal.
“Our goal is to set up a sustainable automated external defibrillator program in all the sporting facilities, recreational facilities, and, of course, we want to promote this in the schools and just basically throughout our community as many places as we can — universities and things like that too,” Savage-Jones told AL.com. “That’s our vision and goal for the project.”
The project includes training volunteers on how to use the devices and administer CPR, ensuring that the devices are fully charged and maintained, kept ready at all times, and placed in high-visibility areas and in sufficient numbers to maximize the chances of survival for anyone who experiences sudden cardiac arrest.
“And that’s what the hospital has agreed to kind of take on to drive this effort and then keep it sustained so that we will set up a system to go and check them and make sure that they are working on a regular basis,” she said.
Part of what Huntsville Hospital is doing is providing maintenance, general training, and CPR training, she added.
“We also can provide that along with the heart association to those volunteers and leaders in those communities,” she said.
She cited Russell’s experience as an inspiration for the project.
“We know that if you use an AED in the first six minutes of a heart event, it exponentially increases the patient’s chance for survival,” she said.
“ And the consequences that come with that when it cuts off the oxygen to your brain and things like that,” she added. ”So if you can get in there and get that AED for the first six minutes, you’re much more likely to save that child’s life or that adult’s life. And that’s what we want, to blanket the community with these pieces of equipment.”
Savage-Jones said there is “a very high rate of heart disease in Alabama ,” underscoring the urgency of having AEDs in as many locations as possible.
“The more accessible AEDs are, the better it is for our community,” said Tracy Doughty, Huntsville Hospital president.
This is not the first time the city of Huntsville has funded Huntsville Hospital Foundation projects. In both 2022 and 2023, it provided $25,000 annually for its suicide prevention program, SPEAK. Last year, the city provided $25,000 to assist patients after hospital discharge.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is proposing $5 million for AEDs for the state’s public school systems.
Savage-Jones said this would go a long way toward the project’s goal and is partnering with Madison County school systems — including the school districts of the cities of Madison and Huntsville and that of Madison County — on equipment purchase, sharing best practices for placement, training, maintenance, and repair.
“We are all collaborating to determine the balance between accessibility and security and to fill in any identified gaps in coverage,” she stated. “And, of course, we are augmenting CPR training and certifications throughout the schools and other public entities.”
Volunteer opportunities at Huntsville Hospital Foundation include providing meals or snacks for patients, stuffing event invitation envelopes or hanging up event posters. Those interested can register here.
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