Avon, CO, 9/30/21 City Markets and Starting Hearts are pleased to announce a strategic partnership to place lifesaving defibrillators and train staff in leadership and lifesaving skills in each of the City Market locations in Eagle County. Defibrillators have been placed in both the Vail and Avon locations with Eagle to follow. Training for staff has been scheduled and will be completed in the coming weeks.
To inaugurate this collaboration, City Market in Avon hosted an unveiling of the new device on Wednesday with State Representative Dylan Roberts presiding.
Representative Roberts stated, "Starting Hearts is an amazing model for our state and our nation in their work to ensure that live-saving AEDs are placed in as many places as possible. I was proud to work with Starting Hearts to pass legislation in 2019 that ensures that Colorado is an AED-friendly state and the installation at Vail's and now Avon's City Market are very important steps for our community that were made possible by that legislation and the hard work of Starting Hearts." More information regarding this bill can be found here: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb19-1183.
Alan Himelfarb, Executive Director of Starting Hearts, stated, "We are so pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with the City Markets in Eagle County to provide lifesaving defibrillators and training. Our supermarkets are some of the most highly trafficked locations and being prepared to provide early care while the professionals are enroute can make all the difference between a wonderful save or a tragic loss."
Janet Newman, Director of Education at Starting Hearts shared, “There is certainly no better investment than saving a life. All patrons of City Market in Avon can feel more secure that this defibrillator is here. I am grateful to my birthday fundraiser to make the placement of this defibrillator possible. Now, my goal is to teach as many people as possible to use it, so we are all ready in case of emergency! Starting Hearts offers free classes at your convenience. What could be better?”
City Market states, “We are grateful for the lifesaving work of Starting Hearts and are proud to be installing these important devices in our Eagle County City Market locations. We are thankful for the partnership and for the critical training that Starting Hearts is delivering to our store teams,” said Jessica Trowbridge, Corporate Affairs Director for City Market.
About Starting Hearts
Starting Hearts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Avon, CO. Our mission is to save the lives of sudden cardiac arrest victims through free CPR and defibrillator education, widespread distribution of lifesaving defibrillators in public places, activation of citizen first responders, and broad stakeholder cooperation in the communities we serve.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is our nation’s leading cause of preventable death, with 400,000 events annually and a dismal 10% survival rate. SCA can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. A person’s chance of survival decreases by 10% with every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation and brain damage occurs in just four minutes; so, the quicker one can respond, the greater the victim’s chance of survival.
About City Market
At City Market a company of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone™️ and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit®. We are 21,000 associates who serve customers daily through a seamless shopping experience throughout Colorado. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025.
