Akron Fire Department officials announced Thursday that AED devices will be added to all fire trucks to help make Akron a "heart safe city."

CLEVELAND — The Akron Fire Department is expanding its capabilities for EMS (Emergency Medical Services) to all fire companies.

Each fire engine in the Akron Fire Department will be outfitted with automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), which will nearly double the capabilities of the emergency workers to provide life-saving services to the members of the community.

Currently, the Akron Fire Department has 14 ambulances and 13 corresponding fire engines at the same stations every day. AEDs help reduce the risk of death from sudden cardiac arrest and are particularly helpful in prehospital settings.

“Placing AED’s on all of our front line fire apparatus is a part of supporting Akron’s goal of being a Heart Safe City by rapidly getting an AED to the scene of a cardiac arrest,” said Joe Natko, the District Chief of the Akron Fire EMS Bureau.

The American Heart Association considers a community to be a Heart Safe City “when they strive to educate their citizens on how to recognize cardiac disease, how to survive a sudden cardiac arrest and to be trained in CPR and the use of AEDs.”

The AEDs placed on the fire trucks will be used only if the engine company arrives at an emergency scene before a Medical Unit or ambulance whose response time is delayed. Over the last five years, the Akron Fire Department has received an increase of calls for help in the last five years.

Currently, the Akron Fire Department responds to an average of “more than 20 additional calls each day” than it did five years ago.