Time To Fill The Park: Annual First Responders Luncheon Thursday

How would you like some free food, and a chance to maybe help save a life at the same time? You could have that chance Thursday at the Cedar City Main Street Park during the First Responders Luncheon. The luncheon is being hosted by the Iron County Homebuilders Association, the Iron County Board of Realtors and the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce.

The luncheon starts at 11 a.m. and is scheduled to go to 1 p.m. and the food is free as long as supplies last. Carter Wilkey will be manning the cooker, and promises a delicious meal consisting of pulled pork, coleslaw and other tasty delights.

This is an annual event designed to show appreciation to local first responders and military personnel.

In addition to the lunch, there will be activities for some fun on what is forecast to be a hot July day. One activity we were told about on the morning show was a dunk tank with local luminaries getting dunked by those who contribute to the fundraiser going on in conjunction with the lunch.

What is that fundraiser? That's where the saving lives comes in. The hosting organizations are joining up with the Cedar City Police Department to gather money to purchase a defibrillator for each squad car in their fleet. Right now, only six of the 30 law enforcement vehicles have defibrillators on board.

A defibrillator is a medical device used to deliver an electric shock to the heart in cases of cardiac arrest. Its purpose is to restore a normal heartbeat by resetting the heart's electrical system.

When someone experiences cardiac arrest, their heart's electrical signals become chaotic, causing the heart to stop pumping blood effectively. A defibrillator is used to administer a controlled electric shock to the heart, which momentarily stops all electrical activity in the hope that the heart's natural pacemaker can regain control and restore a normal rhythm.

Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are portable devices are often found in public places, such as airports, malls, and schools. AEDs are designed to be used by non-medical personnel, and they provide voice prompts and visual instructions to guide the user through the process. AEDs analyze the heart's rhythm and only deliver a shock if necessary.

To help our law enforcement officers be prepared to help save lives, members of the community are being asked to help reach the goal of $26,092 needed to obtain the other 24 defibrillator units.

If you can't make it to the lunch, contributions are being accepted at the Cedar City Chamber Of Commerce, the Iron County Homebuilders Association and the Iron County Board of Realtors. But by all means, if you can break away for lunch you should stop by and enjoy! If it get as warm as the forecast says, maybe you can sign up to go in the dunk tank!