Defibrillator stolen from Beaver Creek bus stop
Special to the Daily |
Reward offered
Starting Hearts is offering a $250 reward for the return of the stolen defribillator, or for information that leads to its return or the prosecution of the perpetrators.
Call Jerry Hensel, operations manager of Beaver Creek Resort, at 970-754-5791, email JHensel@vailresorts.com, or call Alan Himelfarb at 949-929-5715.
BEAVER CREEK – A felony theft hits a local life-saving organization right in the heart.
A public defibrillator, placed by Starting Hearts, was stolen last week from the bus stop in Beaver Creek, according to Jerry Hensel, Operations Manager of Beaver Creek Resort.
“It’s terrible. It’s a felony and we can’t have this in our community,” said Alan Himelfarb, executive director of Starting Hearts.
The defibrillator was placed by Starting Hearts and Beaver Creek Resort Company, to serve the public interest in the case of sudden cardiac arrest, Himelfarb said.
Defibrillators can cost up to $3,200.
Support Local Journalism
If Starting Hearts has to replacing the stolen unit, that means it cannot provide another defibrillator in one of the other locations it has identified around Eagle County. So far, Starting Hearts plans to place defibrillators 450 more locations in Eagle County.
Cardiac arrest, also known as cardiopulmonary arrest or circulatory arrest, is a sudden stop in effective blood circulation due to the failure of the heart to contract effectively or at all, resulting in organ and brain damage, or death.
A defibrillator can help restart the heart, but only if it’s available.
“The unit costs money, the installation costs money, and the maintenance contract costs money,” Himelfarb said.
Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 or rwyrick@vaildaily.com.
