Gathering in memory of Teddy Dowdle and with a view to stop similar tragedies, Teddy’s Heart Foundation and supporters gathered at Woodridge Park on Thursday, May 4 to dedicate an AED, short for Automatic External Defibrillator. Founded by Teddy’s parents Craig and Emily Dowdle along with brother Carter and sister Olivia, the Teddy’s Heart Foundation has one overriding purpose: to prevent others from going through what the Dowdle’s had to, Teddy passing May 4, 2022, from cardiac arrest while playing basketball at Woodridge.

Located on the outside of the main building and facing the basketball courts at Woodridge Park, the new AED SaveStation with cabinet cost approximately $6,000, but can be $2,600 as a portable carry unit, according to Paul Mendoza of SaveStation. Mendoza, a first responder before working with AED installation, shared how cardiac arrest calls had impacted him.

“That kind of led into what I do know,” Mendoza said of responding to cardiac arrest calls as a first responder. Distinct from a heart attack (which involves artery blockage), a cardiac arrest happens when the electrical signal to the heart is interrupted. Someone who gets their first shock from an AED within 60 seconds of collapse has a 90 percent chance of survival. With 200 cardiac arrest calls he had responded to; an onsite AED hadn’t been available to give that critical first shock. The same lack of an AED had affected Teddy. SaveStation makes that AED available.

With members of the public wearing Teddy’s Heart Foundation shirts and different speakers present along with officials from city council, police, and fire present May 4, Teddy’s father Craig shared the story of what the family had gone through a year ago as Teddy collapsed after suffering cardiac arrest. In spite of sadness, the anniversary of tragedy was also the start of a different future.

“Today we lay the first stone in Teddy’s legacy,” Craig Dowdle of Teddy’s Heart Foundation said at Woodridge Park on May 4. That legacy would be to make AEDs available for bystander use prior to EMS arrival. Paul Mendoza of SaveStation shared more on how the device at Woodridge worked.

“We used to say you have to be trained,” he said. “Now you don’t have to be trained. Turn on the machine and it tells you what to do.”

Those needing to use the AED simply pull down the cabinet’s top door to access the compartment containing it, located on the east side of the building off the parking lot, facing the basketball courts. Once the top door is pulled down, an alarm will sound and 911 will be notified the device has been activated, with a QR code to scan on the cabinet front giving those unfamiliar with an AED a less than two-minute tutorial on how to use the device.

From there the machine keeps in contact with first responders, sending a report by email to the hospital before ambulance arrival, giving doctors the information, they need to take over the care process for the patient.

With the AED now installed on the east side of the main building at Woodridge, those interested in learning more about or helping Teddy’s Heart Foundation can find more information at teddysheart.org, as well as on Facebook at Teddy’s Heart. Those interested in learning more on life saving training can contact deputy fire chief John Pritchard at jpritchard@cottagegrovemn.gov.

A second AED unit will be installed by the Teddy’s Heart Foundation at East Ridge later this month, with more to come.