AUBURN – Jacob Kendall wasn’t sure just how automatic the city’s new life-saving equipment really will be.

Kendall, a city engineering employee, was part of a training class learning to use two newly donated automatic electronic defibrillators. Fire Lt. Mike Lecompte assured Kendall and the rest of the class that the defibrillators, designed to shock a failing heart back into a normal rhythm, are simple to use.

“But I’ve seen people who can’t swipe their credit card properly at the self-checkout at Shaw’s,” Kendall said. “Do you think they could do it?”

Lecompte said they could – and they’ll have two more opportunities now that the defibrillators will be on hand at Auburn Hall and the city’s recreation department offices in Pettengill Park.

“I don’t think anybody in the city will mind where they are being used because they’re there to save a life,” Lecompte told the class Friday morning in Auburn Hall.

The two new defibrillators, purchased with a Fire Department grant, join a growing collection across the Twin Cities. Fire and police departments in both cities have several of the life-saving devices. United Ambulance donated one to Auburn’s Edward Little High School early this month and three more are positioned around the Auburn Mall.

There are several other businesses that have their own defibrillators, according to Chris Andreasen, an Auburn paramedic.

“The big important thing about them is that they’re so simple, somebody with very little training can use them,” Andreasen said.

The machines are an aid to CPR. Two sticky pads with electronic leads attach to the chest of the person having a heart attack. The device tests the electronic impulses coming from the victim’s heart, providing an electronic shock if necessary. It provides voice instructions all along, telling lifesavers when to provide CPR and when to stand clear.

“Because of their cost effectiveness and their ease of use, they’re able to get out there and be used by a greater number of people,” Andreasen said.

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