Description

My name is Holly Copher, and I am the District Nurse for our local school district. I am certified to teach CPR/BLS and manage our school district’s AEDs (16). As well as working for our school district, I am a member of our community and raise my children here. My husband I are both on the Little League Board.
Clyde is a small, rural community with a population of approximately 3,923. We are about 20-30 minutes away
from the nearest hospital. We have a volunteer fire department, so there is not someone AT the firehouse at all times- the volunteers are at their homes or jobs when they are called in. We do have one ambulance service that covers a large span of area.
Clyde is a community that is centered around our youth and try to give our children the best opportunities we can. Our youth basketball and football leagues practice and play games at our school facilities where an AED is always available. However, our baseball and softball leagues play in a more rural area, not associated with the school. This area is a few miles out of town and is maintained by parents/volunteers. The land for the fields was gifted to the community years ago so the local kids would have baseball/softball fields to play on. These
fields are surrounded by pastures with cows grazing and some wooded areas. I grew up playing on these fields, and now my children are. We have a fantastic group of parents that volunteer as coaches, board members, maintenance- you name it- we do it! We do not have anyone that is not afraid to get their hands
dirty!
I have discussed the importance of having an AED readily available, especially in a rural area. Both our baseball and softball board members have agreed that they and the coaches need to be CPR certified and educated on AEDs. They would love to have an AED at the baseball fields (we have 4 baseball fields) and one
at the softball fields (3 softball fields). During ball season, you can find the majority of the community out at these fields.