On Tuesday, the EPPD had the opportunity to give an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) to one of our favorite non-profit organizations, Let’s Go Fishing. The donation was part of a larger program called Hearts on Duty which is run by Stryker, the manufacturer of the AEDs.

Here’s how the program works. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Resuscitation Medicine received an $18.8 million grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust to fund the Minnesota AED Project which provides AEDs to law enforcement agencies across the state. The EPPD received 25 of those AEDs – one for each of our squad cars.

Stryker created Hearts on Duty to allow law enforcement agencies who use one of their AEDs in a cardiac arrest save to donate an AED to a non-profit organization in their community.

In early March 2023, just days after the EPPD took possession of the new AEDs, one of them was used to save a resident who had a cardiac event in their home. That save was forwarded to Stryker, along with other saves throughout the state. The U of M's Center for Resuscitation Medicine then held a lottery to select which saves would be eligible to receive a donated AED and the EPPD’s save was selected.

We’re happy to be able to give this AED to Let’s Go Fishing as they are an important outreach partner for the EPPD. Every summer the organization takes 20 children and several officers out on their boats for our Cops and Bobbers event. Annually the Eden Prairie chapter of Let’s Go Fishing and their 130 volunteers take 3,000-4,000 seniors, veterans, youth and disabled persons on fishing trips on Lake Riley.

Let’s Go Fishing does not have an AED on either of its two pontoon boats and they are grateful to have received one.  

Photo: Madison Nelson, U of M Center for Resuscitation Medicine; EPPD Officer Noah Stave; Steve Wilson, Let's Go Fishing; Mike Gruidl, Let's Go Fishing.