LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — Sarah Katzenmaier was preparing to perform in Lexington's annual Thriller Parade when she went into sudden cardiac arrest just steps into the first dance.
Now, nearly five years later, she and bystander-turned-close friend Charlotte Callan are helping lead a community effort to map automated external defibrillator (AED) locations across the city, hoping their experience can help save someone else's life.
The cardiologist who cared for Katzenmaier following her cardiac arrest said for every minute a patient needs but does not get an AED, survival decreases by approximately 10%.
"Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, any zip code, no warning, nothing. You drop dead," Katzenmaier said.
Callan performed CPR and ultimately helped save Katzenmaier's life. "I'm very grateful and thankful that she's turning this, this awful incident that she experienced into something that's going to benefit the community and I'm very happy to be a part of it," Callan said.
Katzenmaier said a conversation with her doctor after waking from a medically induced coma left her determined to take action. "I was put in an induced coma in the hospital, and I remember Doctor [Vedant] Gupta telling me that it was a miracle, and I remember thinking the miracle is science and that people knew CPR and that someone stepped up. My very, very first thing when he told me that because he thought it was a miracle was because it was 10% survival rate. I thought, well, that ain't right. We gotta do something about that," Katzenmaier said.
That experience led her to Cardiac Crusade, a non-profit dedicated to helping save lives by mapping AEDs and making their locations accessible. The mission is also personal for co-founder Greg Coon, whose wife is a cardiac arrest survivor.
"My goal is to get it on there where you can say, Hey Google, hey Siri, where's the closest AED and it pops up. But in the meantime, We've got an army of volunteers that are mapping AEDs that give that data and that information to local 911 systems," Coon said.
Callan said growing CPR knowledge among community members, combined with AED mapping technology, has the potential to make a meaningful difference.
"We're having more people that are, um, becoming a part of the, the general public that are more knowledgeable on how to give CPR but then having it coupled with an app that tells you, OK, this is your closest AED, these are your resources that you have and having more people educated, I think it's gonna be, I think, phenomenal thing for the community," Callan said.
Organizers say they can't do it alone and are asking the community to help identify and map AEDs across Lexington so those devices can be found faster when they're needed most. Residents are encouraged to download the PulsePoint AED app to assist in the effort.
"Download the Pulse Point AED app. It looks like N E A R in a square, gold, and the next time you see an AED when you're out shopping, out at the doctor's appointment, dropping the kids off, and you see one, you can map it," Katzenmaier said.
Organizers are also encouraging Lexingtonians to ask local businesses whether they have an AED and whether it's been added to the map. "I want them to go to their businesses, their local businesses in their community, and ask, um, business owners if they have an AED, and if they don't have one, why don't they have one? And if they do have one, then they should map it so that way our student volunteers can go out and they can verify it. It's on the app," Callan said.
For more information on Cardiac Cats, click here.
For more information on Cardiac Crusade, click here.
Ana Medina is committed to covering stories in your community that matter to you. If you have an idea, reach out to her at ana.medina@wlex.tv
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XThis story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
