Press Release
Contact: Marcus Owens
In 2005, 21-year-old Danny
Rumph died of a heart attack during a pickup
basketball game at the Mallery Playground in
City Paper: Did the announcement of the pilot program catch
you by surprise?
Marcus Owens: The city had told us that they were going to
provide us with a priority list of rec centers where
we could first install the AEDs. We were under the
assumption that we would start with the larger rec
centers, and then deal with the smaller ones later on down the line. But we
never talked about a pilot program because we don't want to just do three. We
want to install as many as possible.
CP: Did the city provide any explanation for the change of
plans?
MO: No. What they told us in the beginning was that every rec center didn't need to be a priority, so they wanted to
prioritize those rec centers that should get it
immediately, but in no way did we discuss that this was a pilot program or that
three was the limit. I have no idea why they changed plans, as they never
discussed it with us. None of the information was ever communicated to us before it
appeared in the Daily News. ... They still haven't communicated with us.
CP: What's your ultimate goal?
MO: After we have defibrillators installed in all our rec centers across the city, we want to offer a program in
which we train young folks from the age of 16 on up on AED and CPR
certification. We feel that if we can teach some of these kids how to save a
life, maybe they'll think twice about taking one.
SERVICE, EDUCATE, COMMUNITY
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SERVICE, EDUCATE, COMMUNITY SERVICE, EDUCATE, COMMUNITY
SERVICE, EDUCATE, COMMUNITY
