Teddy’s Heart Places AEDs at SoWashCo Schools Stadiums
Teddy’s Heart Places AEDs at SoWashCo Schools Stadiums
Teddy’s Heart Foundation is a non-profit organization that was founded by the family of Teddy Dowdle, who passed away in May of 2022 after a cardiac event. The mission of the Teddy’s Heart Foundation is to create widespread access and availability of AED (automated external defibrillator) units in public places.
AEDs are easy-to-use medical devices with built-in instructions that walk the user through the steps to use the device on a person experiencing cardiac arrest.
Teddy’s Heart Foundation partnered with East Ridge, Park and Woodbury high schools to fund and place public AED stations at each high school’s outdoor stadium.
“Teddy was such a sports fan and frequented these stadiums,” said Craig Dowdle, Teddy’s father. “We do what we do so that others that experience a sudden cardiac arrest have a better chance at survival.”
Cardiac events have become more frequent in younger ages and Teddy’s Heart Foundation wants to help provide the proper training and tools for these occurrences.
"High school sports officials have an AED that is brought on the field during games but that is only a percentage of the events that happen on these fields,” Craig said. “We want our youth athletes and others to also have access to these life-saving devices.”
You can spot the AED stations at each stadium in a red case labeled Save Station - Public Access AED. In the past two years, Teddy’s Heart Foundation has funded and placed 19 of these stations in the South Washington County area. They plan to expand their reach and place more stations around the metro and state.
Teddy’s Heart Foundation’s work is solely reliant on donations and volunteers. They will be hosting their annual fundraising event on Oct. 5. The proceeds from the fundraiser will be used to fund future AED stations and trainings.
The foundation will also be hosting a table at the Woodbury v. East Ridge football game at TCO stadium this Friday and invites you to stop by to purchase fundraiser tickets or to learn more about Teddy’s Heart Foundation.