Borowski & O’Mara will team up to celebrate success of effort to make veterans’ gathering places safer

Rep. Lisa Borowski    August 27, 2024 | 10:26 AM

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Aug. 27 – State Reps. Lisa Borowski and Jennifer O’Mara, along with the Delaware County Veterans Memorial Association, will hold a public event at 2 p.m. on Sept. 16 to celebrate a $40,000 grant they helped secure to place automatic external defibrillators in all American Legion and VFW posts in Delaware County.

The public is invited to attend the event, which will be held at the Delaware County Veterans Memorial at 4599 West Chester Pike in Newtown Square.

Borowski said the idea was inspired by local Legion members after Delco lost a very active veteran who died after suffering a heart attack at a Legion post that did not have an AED.

The use of an AED significantly improves the odds of survival for someone in cardiac arrest and reduces the possibility of permanent impairments – but they’re only used outside of hospitals about 6% of the time. If an AED is available and a bystander uses it on the person experiencing cardiac arrest, their chance of survival jumps from 10% to up to 74%, according to recent medical studies.

The following locations will receive an AED thanks to the grant:

O’Mara’s 165th Legislative District: Media VFW Post 3460, Colins Chambers VFW (Morton), Morton AMVETS Post 118

Borowski’s 168th Legislative District: Bateman-Gallagher American Legion Post 668 (Wayne)

Additional locations: John Wesley Cross American Legion Post 507 (Norwood), Marple Memorial American Legion Post 805 (Broomall), Murray-Stuart American Legion Post 566 (Glenolden), Upper Darby American Legion Post 214, John McKenna American Legion Post 660 (Marcus Hook), American Legion Post 926 (Aston), American Legion Post 951 (Boothwyn), American Legion Post 338 (Havertown), American Legion Post 667 Manoa (Havertown), Leon Spencer Reid American Legion Post 547 (Ardmore), Frederick A. Scott American Legion Post 777 (Ridley), American Legion Post 358 (Clifton Heights), American Legion Aldan Memorial Post 1000, VFW Bonaventure-Clark Post 6613 (Aston), VFW Post 928 (Folsom), Eddystone VFW Post 7949, Darby VFW Post 19023, Norwood VFW Post 7213, Upper Darby VFW Post 979, Essington VFW Post 4845.