All Knox County Senior Centers will soon have life-saving automated external defibrillators on-site, thanks to a generous donation from Covenant Health. Covenant is donating an AED unit to Carter Senior Center, the final center to receive a device. Mayor Burchett will be at Carter Senior Center at 2 p.m., Wednesday, March 20, when Covenant Health representatives will present the donated unit.

An AED is a computerized device designed to recognize a cardiac arrest victim’s heart rhythm and provide an electric shock to get that rhythm back to normal. The devices are easy to use and provide lights, text and voice prompts to instruct the rescuer in proper usage of the defibrillator.

The American Red Cross says more than 350,000 people suffer cardiac arrest each year, and an AED unit is the “only effective treatment for restoring a regular heart rhythm during sudden cardiac arrest.” According to the Red Cross, chances of surviving a cardiac arrest are reduced by 10 percent each minute that defibrillation is delayed.