Pictured with their team's medical kit are volleyball captains, junior Bridget Budzius, and seniors Taryn Peglow and Mia Weaver.
Click on the above image for more photos of the medical kits.
October 24, 2024 — Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) save lives. Thanks to an incredible collaborative effort, Westonka students and the community can feel secure knowing that life-saving units are nearby to assist in the event of a cardiac arrest.
Westonka Activities Director Jeff Peterson and his staff came up with an idea last winter to provide a portable AED in every White Hawks sports team's medical kit. When he mentioned the idea to Kevin and Nicole Nash, founders of the BeLikeTommy Project, they were "all in" to partner on the project, according to Peterson.
The BeLikeTommy Project was created to honor the kindness and joy of Tommy Nash following his passing from sudden cardiac arrest in December 2021. The group’s mission is to keep his loving spirit alive by caring for the hearts of others, both physically and emotionally. Tommy’s parents, Kevin and Nicole Nash, have collaborated with Westonka Schools in the past by purchasing and placing multiple AED units within school buildings. Recently, an outdoor AED tower with a temperature-controlled cabinet with cameras was installed at Haddorff Field.
The idea for the portable units quickly took flight, and the result was a unique collaboration that soon included Dale Wagasugi of My AED & CPR Solutions, a cardiac arrest survivor with personal connections to both Peterson and the Nash family. After hearing about the project, Wagasugi connected the Nash family with Kim Harkins at the University of Minnesota as a source for recycled AEDs.
The Center for Resuscitation Medicine (CRM) at the U of M received an $18.8M grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust to fund the Minnesota AED Project, which aims to improve cardiac arrest survival by providing AEDs to law enforcement agencies and first responders across the state. Harkins explained that many of the agencies benefiting from this grant already had good, usable devices within their agency, so the CRM offered a recycle/reuse program. Through the CRM’s AED Recycle/Reuse Project, AED units that are in condition are updated with new batteries and pads and placed in communities. The rescue-ready AED units are available through an application process.
"The CRM is committed to improving outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest by providing education, resources, and opportunity for all steps of care in emergency cardiac events; from bystanders providing early CPR and AED to the care at the health care center,” said Harkins. “This program has provided a better chance for AEDs to be where they are needed most, which is where the event happens."
In June 2024, the BeLikeTommy Project encouraged Westonka sports teams to sign up for the annual Tommy’s Speed Walk event and committed the funds raised to the AED project. Over $17,000 was raised -- enough to purchase refurbished AED devices for all high school sports teams’ medical kits, plus another outdoor AED tower for the planned new stadium in the future.
The Westonka Activities Department was instrumental in getting the portable AEDs and medical kits assembled and ready in time for the fall sports season. They also created a system for coaches and others to use to track the location, use and expiration date of each unit.
“We believe we’re the first school in Minnesota to do this,” said Peterson of placing a portable AED unit in each team’s medical bag. “It’s pretty visionary – and a cool opportunity for us to be leaders,” added Kevin Nash.
“An AED is like a fire extinguisher,” said Wagasugi. “You hope you never have to use it, but it can save a life if you have it.”
The BeLikeTommy Project has several events coming up which will allow them to continue spreading joy, including the Golden Gala on Nov. 23 and the sale of Tommy’s Trees to brighten the holidays and raise money for your neighbors in need. For more information, visit beliketommy.org.
