Denzel Ward's Make Them Know Your Name foundation provides AED to Hinckley Fire Department

HINCKLEY TWP. — The Make Them Know Your Name Foundation recently provided Hinckley Township with an Automated External Defibrillator, which will help those who are experiencing cardiac arrest. Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward created the Make Them Know Your Name Foundation after his father died in 2016 from cardiac arrest. The foundation promotes heart health by providing AED equipment to organizations and communities like Hinckley, administering CPR training and educating the public on living in a heart-healthy manner. The foundation stated it donates an Avive Connect AED to a local organization each time the Browns win a game. After the Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of December, the Hinckley Fire Department was selected as the recipient for an AED. Hinckley Fire Chief Matt Payne said the new AED will be added to the department's fleet on one truck that did not have one before. "Heart monitors are mostly what we use," he said. "We have an (AED) at each one of the ball fields, and having an AED was part of House Bill 47 where you're required to have it. We have one at town hall, and we have one at the fire station." Having AEDs be widely accessible and available can help save someone's life during an emergency, Payne said. After someone removes the AED out of the box or from a wall, the machine will instruct the user on how to properly administer it on someone who is undergoing sudden cardiac arrest. "Early shocks save lives," he said. "It is so a lay person could easily turn it on and walk right through it and use it without reading or looking at anything. Most of the new ones are all voice activated, so it walks you right through the order of the steps to do it." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.