Redstone Elementary Becomes the First DCSD School With an Outdoor SaveStation

An inspiring milestone was made on Tuesday, August 12 at Redstone Elementary School. The first of four publicly accessible SaveStations was revealed in the Douglas County School District. The SaveStations were donated by AdventHealth Littleton Foundation and DCSD parent and AdventHealth nurse Kara Baker in honor of her father Ed Walsh.

Each SaveStation is a climate-controlled unit that houses an AED (defibrillator). It is installed outdoors so that it is accessible to anyone and available 24/7.The first SaveStation in DCSD was placed outside of Redstone Elementary, not only as a source of protection for the future, but also as a representation of the lives that have been lost due to cardiac issues. In 2018, Baker's father, Ed Walsh, devastatingly lost his life outside of Redstone Elementary due to cardiac arrest. With no access to school buildings on the weekends, the indoor AED machine was out of reach.

Since then, Kara has been working to raise money, provide heart screening events and has partnered with AdventHealth to install multiple public SaveStations. In fact, Kara’s hard work has allowed her to install 10 accessible SaveStations at outdoor public sites across Colorado. This event at Redstone Elementary marked another step closer to her goal.

A beautiful ribbon cutting was held to reveal the new SaveStation to the community. Kara was joined by Redstone families, AdventHealth employees, members of the community and Douglas County board representatives to witness this historical moment. Kara continues to push forward in honor of her father and for the lives of everyone in and beyond the Douglas County area.