Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the donation source for McKinney's Neighborhood Heroes program.
The McKinney Fire Department has issued 102 automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, to the public in support of its Neighborhood Heroes program.
Battalion Chief Ben Jones announced the program's progress during an Oct. 5 McKinney City Council work session. The fire department’s goal is to distribute more than 400 AEDs into the community as part of its “Four-Minute City” initiative.
“This is in addition to the 198 AEDs that we currently have that are public access whether they’re at the libraries and the parks and the police cars,” Jones said. “Overall, our goal is to have close to 600 around the city.”
The current situation
Cardiac arrest survival rates in McKinney have increased more than 35 percentage points since 2023, when the fire department set a goal to improve response times. Fire department officials aim to continue improving those survival rates through a community-based approach called the Neighborhood Heroes program.
The program equips trained citizens with AEDs, which enable them to respond to cardiac arrests within a half-mile radius of their position.
“That allows that, no matter where you are in the city, you’re no more than four minutes away from a trained neighborhood hero who can arrive, perform CPR and be adequately equipped with an AED to provide assistance until our trained professionals can get there,” Jones said.
More information
The fire department issued its first 10 AEDs to community members in May. Since then, the department has been able to purchase 150 more AEDs through a donation from Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital. The department has hosted six more training sessions for interested participants, Jones said.
Since 2023, the McKinney Fire Department has doubled the number of AEDs in McKinney and cut its dispatch time in half. The city has added AEDs to publicly accessible places like parks, recreation centers and public libraries.
To learn more, visit www.mckinneyfire.org/hero.
