Mentor Fire Department's scavenger hunt seeks to raise AED awareness

The Mentor Fire Department is holding a scavenger hunt to help increase the public's knowledge of the locations of automated external defibrillators.

The public is encouraged to make a list of AED locations in the city, and submit the list to the Mentor Fire Department by Sunday. The person who finds the most AEDs will win a ride in a fire truck.

An AED is a portable device that can shock the heart of someone in cardiac arrest, explained Nathan Peters of Mentor Fire Public Education.

"The AEDs are basically set up for anyone to use," Peters said.


The machine can read what is happening to a victim, and as long as the person using the device follows the instructions correctly, the AED will not provide a shock unless it detects a rhythm that it can help, he said.

The main goal of the program is for people to learn where the machines are located, specifically in places that they frequent, like schools and grocery stores, said Peters.

There are nearly 50 AEDs in Mentor, and each one cost at least $1,000, he said.

Peters said that until someone can invent teleportation, professional response times will not decrease, so AEDs are essential for quickly helping victims of cardiac arrest.

"The sooner we can get a shock to a heart that needs it, the better the chance of survival."

Submissions can be mailed to Mentor Fire Department, AED Scavenger Hunt, 8467 Civic Center Blvd., Mentor, OH 44060, dropped off in person Monday-Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., or emailed to