The board of directors at the Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center received a $6,000 donation from the Anchorage chapter of Mended Hearts that will save lives.

The funds will be used to purchase three portable automatic emergency defibrillators and accessories that will be located in key locations around the center.

"This is a wonderful gift," said Monika Dahlberg, administrative assistant at the center. "There has been talk for the last couple years about buying one of these units, but it kept getting pushed back in favor of other projects."

Ron Crowl, president of the Anchorage chapter of Mended Hearts, and treasurer Rae Foutz, presented the board with the check during a meeting Oct. 27.

"We set out to raise money to purchase defibrillators in January for a community organization that needed them," Foutz said. "When we called the Chugiak center they told us they'd wanted to purchase some for the last couple of years. It was a perfect match."

Dahlberg said the donation can only be used to purchase the units and needed support items, such as mounting brackets, storage cases and batteries.

"The units we're looking at cost about $1,600 each," she said. "So the most we can get is three, unless we can find some additional donations. But three is better than none."

Dahlberg said six units would be ideal.

The center plans to order the Power Heart AED G3 plus unit, which features an automatic function to make it easy to use. It also helps rescuers maintain the proper pace when giving chest compressions.

Staff will be trained, Dahlberg said, "But anyone who can follow simple instructions should be able to use the machine while waiting for an ambulance and paramedics to arrive."

The ease of use is one of the reasons the local Mended Heart chapter made the donation.

"We realize the staff won't always be available at the center and a machine that seniors could use is important to have onsite," Foutz said. "We hope it is never needed, but we are happy that we can provide the center with a valuable lifesaving tool."

Reach the reporter at darrell.breese.@alaskastar.com.