Over the last two years, the city more than doubled the number of automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, from roughly 80 in 2023 to about 200 as of May 2025, and cut their dispatch time in half. For every minute a cardiac arrest victim doesn’t receive CPR or defibrillation, their chance of surviving drops 10%, Muscle said.
“We're seeing people walk out of the hospital from cardiac arrest all the time,” Muscle said, noting that four patients survived sudden cardiac arrest in April.
In a nutshell
Since 2023, the city has added roughly 200 AEDs to city-owned spaces like recreation centers, parks and public libraries, as well as police vehicles through their partnership with California-based medical company Avive. Previously, McKinney had about 10 AEDs in police vehicles; now there are 85, Muscle said.
The city also streamlined how dispatch handles cardiac arrest calls. It was common for the city to take about two minutes to get a paramedic or police officer headed to calls related to cardiac arrest events, but now dispatch times are routinely under 60 seconds, Muscle said.
“We've had [an] over 50% reduction in our cardiac arrest dispatch time just by changing simple things,” Muscle said, noting that the department implemented the “Quick Drop” system to classify cardiac distress calls into four types, streamlining the dispatch process.
Zooming in
The city’s new AEDs are manufactured domestically by Avive. The touchscreen devices are on the cellular network, and show a map with directions to a cardiac event’s location. Emergency dispatch can activate the AED closest to the event, where the AED will sound an alert and show directions to the event. The device shows step-by-step instructions on how to use it, and does not require any medical training, Muscle said. The AEDs are available to anyone that witnesses a cardiac event, including bystanders.
Police officers use the new AEDs the most frequently, and are able to respond to cardiac events more quickly because they’re already on the road, Muscle said.
“Their go-time is seconds... The dispatch fire department guys have to get in the rig, figure out where they're going and they still have good times, but they're just not going to beat police officers,” he said.
By the numbers
Currently, Seattle has the highest cardiac arrest survival rate in the country at 50%, McKinney Fire Battalion Chief Ben Jones said at a December City Council work session. The national average is just under 30%, Jones added, and in 2023 McKinney’s survival rate was between 10% and 20%, Muscle said.
McKinney’s current cardiac arrest survival rate is currently above the national average, between 30% and 40%.
What else?
In addition to the AED network, the city implemented the GoodSam app, a system where CPR qualified citizens can register to get notified of cardiac events near them, so they can respond and provide CPR before emergency medical services can arrive. There are currently 115 registered GoodSam responders in McKinney, according to the fire department.
Muscle said that only 2% of cardiac arrest victims receive CPR before emergency medical services arrive, and EMTs have a much greater chance of success if the victim receives CPR before they arrive. Four AEDs have been used since implementing the new AED network, though the fire department expects that number to increase over time, Muscle said.
What’s next?
McKinney plans to launch their Neighborhood Heroes program in the coming months, where qualified citizens will get an Avive AED to keep in their car or home, with the intent of getting an AED within four minutes of any location in the city, in line with Avive's 4 Minute Community initiative. The city is looking to distribute 450 AEDs for the program to reach the four minute goal. Currently, the McKinney Fire Department is working on getting funding for the program, and Battalion Chief Ben Jones applied for a grant in late 2024 to purchase 160 AEDs. Department officials expect an update on the grant in July.
In McKinney, roughly 90% of cardiac arrests happen inside the home, where public AEDs are not accessible, Muscle said. The Neighborhood Heroes program could improve access to AEDs for cardiac arrests in a house or apartment.
Funding 450 AEDs for five years will cost roughly $1.3 million, Muscle said. The city is also working with fourth and fifth grade students in McKinney ISD to develop lower-cost mounting brackets for the AEDs using 3D printers. An Avive branded AED cabinet currently costs roughly $175 on Avive’s website, with a charging stand running about $100.
After implementing Neighborhood Heroes and buying the additional 160 AEDs, the McKinney Fire Department hopes to implement roughly 700 AEDs in the city, Muscle said.
Quote of Note
“We've had great buy-in from city leadership, key stakeholders, hospital partners [and] businesses in the community. People want to be part of this program,” Muscle added. “Anybody can contribute to it.”
