justin.schneider@heraldbulletin.com

Anderson postal workers now have the ability to be life-savers.

On Friday, Anderson Post Office implemented an automatic external defibrillator program with a signing ceremony at the main branch at 1505 Raible Ave. Through the program, a defibrillator has been placed in the post office, and employees there have received potentially life-saving training.

The program represents a public-private partnership between the post office, Community Hospital Anderson and the Anderson Fire Department.

“The AED is a remarkable piece of equipment,” said nurse Holly Renz, who will represent Community Hospital in the program. “It’s been a privilege and quite exciting to be a part of this.”

Congress passed the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of 2000 to start the placement of defibrillators in public facilities. A representative of the Anderson Post Office said that, as a quasi-federal agency that generates its own funding, the United States Postal Service was excluded from the legislation, but the Anderson branch has been trying to acquire one for the past seven years.

The program would have been impossible without the help of the Community Hospital Foundation, which donated the first $500 to cover the $1,530 cost of a defibrillator. The remaining $1,000 was raised by post office employees.

Renz said the program represents an extension of the Madison County SAVES, or Supporting Activities of Vital Emergency Services, program.

“We have either partially furnished or totally furnished AEDs to various organizations including schools and government agencies,” said Renz, noting that 65 such defibrillators have been placed through Madison County SAVES.

Renz also provided initial training for 10 or 12 post office employees and will perform follow-up should an emergency occur.

“We teach them how to use the AED and take them through various scenarios,” Renz said. “In the event that they use the unit, they would bring us the AED and we would actually download the information stored in the unit. There would be a review process and we would do a debriefing.”

In the meantime, Anderson Fire Department will provide periodic training for postal employees.