Hughes Connie Hughes, who is the parish nurse for Delphi United M e t h o d i s t Church, recently acquired two defibrillators for her congregation.

"We have an aging populat i o n , " e x p l a i n e d H u g h e s . "We've had to call 911 a few times during services."

She said the public also uses the church facilities quite a bit, and when there is a cardiac arrest, minutes count. That's why it's so important to have a defibrillator on site, she said.

She acquired the devices through the Greater Lafayette Health Services' Revive and Survive Grant. The grant covers the cost of training five people for each of the defibrillators; the church has 20 who are trained. "You don't have to be a medical person to be trained to use the defibrillators," she commented.

Hughes also plans to train all church members, ages middle school to adult, about what kinds of things to do in an emergency.

She said more and more churches and public places are getting the devices, and she noted that there are still defibrillators available through the grant.

For more information, Hughes may be contacted at (765) 5643791.