Their quick action, and the workplace presence of an automated external defibrillator (AED), saved a life that day.

“If it wouldn’t have been for the AED, I don’t believe he would be alive,” said Robbie Boucher, who responded with co-workers Dwayne Akin, Travis Bullard-Wolf, Lorne Hammer and Krystle Foster.

Boucher explained Hammer was following the landfill’s last customer of the day out of the landfill when he noticed the truck swerve back and forth from the road to the ditch before stopping. Hammer contacted the others to call for an ambulance.

“Dwayne and I were in the break room. We grabbed the defibrillator and drove up to the scene,” Boucher recalled. Removing the man from his truck, Boucher checked his vital signs and began administering CPR. Meanwhile, his co-workers prepared the AED, which was used to deliver electric shocks to the heart before the arrival of the ambulance crew.

City of Minot employees hold awards received from the city for helping save the life of a landfill customer. From left are Dwayne Akin, Robbie Boucher, Travis Bullard-Wolf and Lorne Hammer. Not pictured is Krystle Foster. Submitted Photo

Although some landfill crew members had familiarity with AED use, the devices carry instructions that can be followed by individuals without training. The devices deliver a shock only if appropriate.

The survival rate of a patient defibrillated within the first three minutes of a cardiac arrest approaches 95%, according to the North Dakota Safety Council, which calls AEDs as essential as fire extinguishers.

The City of Minot reports AEDs are located at the police department, the water treatment plant and Rosehill Memorial Park cemetery, Devices are carried in every police vehicle and all frontline fire apparatus. There are two in the Public Works Building, two that recently arrived to be installed in City Hall and four each at the airport and Minot Public Library.

Kevin Sickler, property maintenance manager for the City of Minot, said the city is always seeking grants to obtain AEDs to place in additional locations. When the police department updated some of its AEDs, the existing units were repurposed for use elsewhere within city government, he said.

“They are annually inspected,” he said of the units. With regular replacement of batteries and pads, the AEDs can be used for many years.

Ward County has two AEDs in its administration building and one in the Courthouse. The highway department does not have one, but Highway Engineer Dana Larsen said the facility is not frequented by the public and most employees work in the field rather than around the building. However, there is interest in obtaining an existing AED from the Sheriff’s Office as that department updates its devices, he said.

Jarrod Olson, director of operations for the Minot Park District, said the park system has AEDs in all its facilities, including four in Maysa Arena. In addition, department heads carry the devices in their vehicles.

Olson said the park district has used grants, budget funds and private donations to acquire the AEDs.

“It would be nice to have more. We get them as we expand programming and facilities,” he said.

INSPIRITUS Community Health Foundation, formerly St. Joseph’s, routinely has designated a portion of its grant money to place AEDs around the region ever since awarding its first grant in 1998, which went to the Ward County Sheriff’s Office for AEDs.

“Defibrillators have changed a lot since then,” said INSPIRITUS President Shelly Weppler. “The cost and size of them is so much different.”

As upgraded models became available, the foundation has helped the sheriff’s office obtain newer units. Currently, the foundation is working with Minot State University through its Wellness Committee to place AEDs in all campus facilities and provide training funds. Since 2021, it also has helped place the devices at facilities of Rehab Services and the Girl Scouts, along with two churches.

Several years ago, the foundation partnered with the American Red Cross to get AEDs and training into 25 rural communities, working with local churches.

“Churches often are community centers in rural North Dakota,” Weppler explained.

Nationally, more than 356,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur every year, of which an estimated 10,000 cases occur in the workplace, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration reports. The effectiveness of AEDs in these situations depends on public awareness in locating and using the devices.

Boucher encourages anyone responding to an emergency to take note of the presence of a defibrillator.

“If there’s an AED available, I would say grab it. If you need it, it’s there,” he said.