$57,000 raised for AED fund

Atlantic Health System’s Newton Medical Center Foundation recently celebrated Sussex and Warren County first-responders and frontline caregivers at the annual “Heart & Soul - A Community Celebration” at Perona Farms.

“Heart & Soul” honors the accomplishments of those who provide extraordinary, life-saving care every day in the field and at Atlantic Health System’s Newton and Hackettstown Medical Centers.

More than 200 people attended the event, which raised more than $57,000 for Newton Medical Center Foundation’s AED (automated external defibrillators) Annual Fund.

Awards presented included the Scott Danielson Heart of Saving Lives Award and the Visions Team Award.

Those honored included Atlantic Mobile Health, St. Clare’s Health, Hardyston Township Police Department, Lakeland Emergency Squad, Byram ShopRite employees, Byram Township Police Department, Byram Township Fire Department, Byram Township Department of Public Works, and Newton Medical Center’s Emergency Department and Charles L. Tice Heart Center Cardiac Catheterization Lab.

The Newton Medical Center Foundation’s AED Program was launched in 2001 with the goal of providing lifesaving AEDs, training and education to organizations in the hospital’s service area.

Since its inception, the program has distributed more than 1,100 AEDs to the community, trained more than 7,000 individuals, and aided in saving more than 83 lives in the Newton and Hackettstown medical center communities - four in the past year alone.

The evening concluded with live bidding to supply additional AEDs through private donations.