Carrollton stands as the first city in Texas to adopt the groundbreaking 4 Minute Community™ Program, and is actively seeking volunteers for the Cardiac Arrest Rapid Engagement (CARE) Team. This initiative aims to reduce the time required to provide lifesaving care to patients experiencing cardiac arrest.

The goal of the 4 Minute Community™ Program is to have an Avive Connect AED™ in the hands of a volunteer trained in CPR/AED to arrive at every suspected sudden cardiac arrest within four minutes of 911 dispatchers receiving the call. The AED’s software will be integrated within dispatchers’ monitors. As soon as an NTECC Telecommunicator recognizes sudden cardiac arrest as the reason for the 911 call, they will activate the Avive Connect AEDs™ in the City, and the devices will alert their owners that a cardiac arrest has occurred and provide them turn-by-turn directions to the location.

Ready to be part of the movement that saves lives in Carrollton? Learn more about the 4 Minute Community Program and apply for the CARE Team on the City's 4 Minute Community™ webpage or email Brian Dickerson at 4mc@cityofcarrollton.com or call 469-986-8677.

Volunteer for Carrollton’s CARE Team

Carrollton stands as the first city in Texas to adopt the groundbreaking 4 Minute Community™ Program. This initiative aims to equip CPR-trained citizen volunteers with AEDs, thereby reducing the time required to provide lifesaving care to patients experiencing cardiac arrest.

Annually, more than 100 lives are lost to cardiac arrest in the City of Carrollton. Some residents may live within a mile of these incidents, and some victims may have been friends or family members. Given the opportunity to save even one of these lives, individuals are encouraged to participate.

The City is actively seeking volunteers for the Cardiac Arrest Rapid Engagement (CARE) Team.

As CARE Team members, individuals will:

• Learn CPR
• Receive an Avive Connect AED
• Attend quarterly resuscitation skills training alongside Carrollton Fire Rescue and fellow CARE Team members
• Contribute to a community-focused team dedicated to saving lives from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

>Eligibility criteria for joining the CARE Team include:

• Residency within the City of Carrollton
• Minimum age of 18
• Willingness to attend initial and ongoing training
• Successful completion of a criminal background check

Ready to be part of the movement that saves lives in Carrollton? Learn more about the 4 Minute Community Program and apply for the CARE Team on the City's 4 Minute Community™ webpage or contact Brian Dickerson at 4mc@cityofcarrollton.com or 469-986-8677.

Carrollton Partners to Launch Avive 4 Minute Community™ Program
Post Date:  2/22/2024 8:26 AM

Carrollton City Council unanimously passed a resolution at the Tuesday, December 6 meeting to partner with Avive Solutions, Inc. for its 4 Minute Community™ AED Program, making Carrollton the first city in Texas and the fourth in the nation to bring this life-saving technology to its residents.

As a 4 Minute Community™, the goal of the program is to have an Avive Connect AED™ in the hands of a volunteer trained in CPR/AED to arrive at every suspected sudden cardiac arrest within four minutes of 911 dispatchers receiving the call. The AED’s software will be integrated within dispatchers’ monitors. As soon as an NTECC Telecommunicator recognizes sudden cardiac arrest as the reason for the 911 call, they will activate the Avive Connect AEDs™ in the City, and the devices will alert their owners that a cardiac arrest has occurred and provide them turn-by-turn directions to the location.

“During a cardiac event, every second is critical,” Carrollton Fire Chief Michael Thomson said. “CFR partners with the North Texas Emergency Communications Center and local businesses to improve the City’s commitment to protecting the lives of our citizens and continues to make Carrollton one of the safest places to live, work, and play.”

Thomson said he believes Avive’s portable Connect AED™ will be a real game changer in the fight to minimize the effects of sudden cardiac arrest with its ability to increase bystander intervention, decrease time to defibrillation, and supply valuable data to the people who need it, when they need it.

Avive’s proprietary Connect AED™ unit features Wi-Fi, cellular, GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity integrated with Avive’s REALConnect software, which allows bi-directional communication between NTECC and each Connect AED unit. This allows any AED within a one-mile radius of a suspected sudden cardiac arrest to be audibly dispatched to the location through the AED unit itself.

High-quality CPR buys time, but in many cases only a shock from an AED can restore a person’s heartbeat and save their life. The aim is to improve out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival rates by strategically deploying Avive Connect AEDs™ within four minutes of being notified.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is a critical medical emergency which occurs when the heart unexpectedly stops beating and pumping blood effectively throughout the body. According to the American Heart Association, there are more than 356,000 OHCA cases each year in the United States, with nearly 90 percent resulting in fatalities.

As part of the agreement, Avive will provide 200 Avive Connect AEDs to assigned citizen volunteers who complete specialized CPR/AED training on the unit and pass a background investigation. An initial study of approximately 25 individuals, who live within Carrollton city limits, is being conducted utilizing current and retired employees of Carrollton Fire Rescue (CFR), members of the Carrollton Disaster Response Alliance (CDRA), and past graduates of Carrollton’s Citizen Fire and Police Academies.

Once the training parameters have been finalized, the opportunity will be expanded to other potential candidates. Citizen volunteers who are accepted into the 4 Minute City™ Program will have a unit assigned to them and be required to participate in quarterly training to stay up to date on the program to maintain their skill level.

The Metrocrest Hospital Authority is providing funding to begin Carrollton’s 4 Minute Community™ Program through Avive Solutions, Inc. as a sole source provider.

For more information, visit the City's 4 Minute Community™ webpage.