Defibrillators

About 400 cases of sudden cardiac arrest occur in Pittsburgh every year, officials said.

Without immediate treatment, only 5 to 7 percent of victims will survive.

The St.

Margaret Foundation and the Colcom and Laurel foundations announced the $1.5 million program this morning.

The project will be called PULSE, Pittsburgh United for Lifesaving Emergencies, according to Matthew Hughes, executive director of the St.

Margaret Foundation and Donna M.

Panazzi, vice president and secretary of the Colcom and Laurel foundations.

The program will make 1,000 AED devices available to building owners, corporations, nonprofit organizations and emergency responders free of charge, provided that they meet requirements for having a sufficient number of people trained to use them.

Officials hope to have 9,000 people trained in how to use the AEDs over the next three years.

The recipients will have to pay a $250 one-time fee for a holding cabinet for the AEDs.

The St.

Margaret and Colcom and Laurel foundations will be merging their separate AED programs.

The Laurel Foundation started PULSE in 2002 to put 235 AEDs in buildings downtown and in other city neighborhoods.

In 1998, the St.

Margaret Foundation started a separate program to place 265 AEDs emergency services personnel Alliso...

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