Allina Medical Transportation dispatcher Heidi Delo types out information on her computer as the monitor on the wall furnishes information on a 911 call about a cardiac problem. The St. Paul-based ambulance service has established a map and paging system for all area registered automated external defibrillators to better serve those with cardiac problems.

[Pioneer Press, Feb. 21. 2012] Where can you go to fix a broken heart? Allina’s ambulance service is working with a Florida company to answer the question with a map of all automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the Twin Cities. With the map and an electronic system for alerting good Samaritans, the emergency call center at Allina Medical Transportation hopes it will be able to quickly dispatch not just ambulances to cardiac arrest patients but also the nearest automated external defibrillator.

Allina Medical Transportation is asking AED owners to register their AEDs in a national registry to make the system more effective.

“This is a way to increase the functionality of the AEDs and make them a community resource,” said Dr. Charles Lick, medical director of Allina Medical Transportation. Read the full story at the Pioneer Press online.