Some might be inspired to call it Highland Heart. On Tuesday, April 5, 2016, the Borough of Highland Park was designated as New Jersey’s first HeartSafe Municipality. The Mayor, Council, and Mayor’s Wellness Campaign are pleased to celebrate this new designation and the enhancements to our community preparedness through a borough-wide educational event and press conference, May 2, 2016, 7 p.m. at the Highland Park Borough Hall, 221 South Fifth Avenue.
Speakers will include: Highland Park Mayor Gayle Brill Mittler; Dr. Clifton Lacy, who is chair of the Mayor’s Wellness Campaign; members of the Mayor’s Wellness Campaign; donors of automatic external defibrillators (AED); Cardiovascular Medicine Professionals of the Community of Highland Park.
The May 2nd event will feature:
- a presentation about heart health promotion, heart disease prevention, and cardiovascular public health by top medical professionals
- A recognition for donors of Automatic External Defibrillators; and
- A ceremony commemorating the designation of the Borough of Highland Park as New Jersey’s first HeartSafe Municipality
HeartSafe Communities is a program designed to promote survival from sudden out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
HeartSafe Communities programs promote this by enhancing the American Heart Association’s Chain of Survival, a series of five links that give victims of a medical emergency the best chance to survive: immediate recognition of cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with an emphasis on chest compressions, rapid defibrillation, effective advanced life support, and integrated post-cardiac arrest care.
Municipalities become designated as HeartSafe Communities by establishing and meeting a set of criteria including availability of CPR instruction, public access defibrillators, and aggressive resuscitation protocols for first responders.
Several members and friends of the Borough of Highland Park Mayor’s Wellness Campaign have pledged donations to support purchase of AEDs and donor recognition plaques, said Dr. Lacy. Donors are requested to send checks in the amount of $1250.00 made out to the Borough of Highland Park (and write HP MWC HeartSafe AED Program on the memo line) and send or deliver the checks to Kathleen Kovach, Director of Finance, Borough of Highland Park, 221 South Fifth Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904.