NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Lions Club — in collaboration with the Fire Department — this week gave automated external defibrillators to both Lilly and Forbes libraries as a way of bolstering the immediate emergency response for library patrons and staff in both buildings.

“With the cardiac arrest situation, every second counts,” Forbes Library Director Lisa Downing said. “And knowing that it’s here gives us one more tool to be able to help people. Any one of us could have a health emergency and so knowing that these tools are at the ready to be able to use I’m hoping that gives everyone a sense of assurance.”

AEDs can analyze a person’s heartbeat and deliver an electric shock if needed to stabilize a person’s heart rhythm. An AED is normally used during cardiac arrest.

Over the past year, Lions Club Treasurer Patrick Diggins coordinated between the libraries and the fire department to identify and purchase the AED model that’s compatible with the city’s emergency services training and maintenance programs. Diggins officially handed Downing and Lilly Library Director Adam Novitt the machines on Wednesday, after waiting six months for the them to arrive.

“Everybody wants one so the supply chain is very backed up,” Assistant Fire Chief Matt Lemberg said. “I’m glad that the libraries and the Lions Club put this forward a while back, but it’s been over six months to try to get these with the supply chain issues.”

The project began over a year ago when Diggins and the Lions Club board heard stories about AEDs saving lives in buildings with easy access to the machines. The club wondered whether municipal buildings in town had these machines on hand, and discovered most city buildings and all schools owned an AED. Yet the two libraries did not.

“Actually, at the time, (the libraries’ staff) had been talking about trying to figure out how they’re going to raise funds because they’re expensive machines,” Diggins said. “Lifesaving devices, you know, should be more accessible to people and especially in a place like this where they have a lot of people and seniors come and use the facility.”

The club spent $4,400 to buy the machines and boxes to mount them on the wall.

Between 30 and 40 library staff members will undergo training to use the devices, although the AED models purchased by the Lions Club have an automated tutorial for untrained patrons. Novitt said the training serves as practice, but also helps staff members identify circumstances that require the defibrillator and communicate critical information to medical staff.

“We’re going to get a lesson in how to communicate to the fire department. So when Person A is using device, and person B is on the phone with the fire department, the fire departments is going to want certain kinds of information that the machine is not going to be telling them,” he said.

Downing is grateful for the donated device, but she hopes its a safety precaution the library will never need to use.

“It’s like carrying an umbrella and hoping that it never rains. We’d never actually have to use it but if we do, we have it.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.