Maynard Girl Scout Works to Bring AEDs to Community
Siena Hesbach, Maynard High School Class of 2026 and Ambassador Girl Scout (Maynard Troop 66250), is taking her Gold Award project to heart.
A Gold Award is the highest award a Senior or Ambassador Girl Scout can earn. The purpose of a Gold Award project is to address an issue that the Girl Scout cares about deeply and has a lasting impact on their community.
A Problem Close to Home
As a student athlete, as well as a soccer referee and lifeguard, Siena has an awareness of the increased incidence of sudden cardiac arrests in athletes of any age.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in young athletes.¹
When someone experiences SCA, the time for response is short. The AHA advises that the optimum time for reviving individuals suffering from SCA is within three minutes of the incident. When a person has immediate access to automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), these survival rates increase by as much as 80 per cent. This rate drops to 2 per cent for individuals left untreated after 10 minutes.¹
“Seeing athletes like Christian Eriksen, the Danish Soccer player in the 2020 UEFA Euro Cup, and Damar Hamlin, of the Buffalo Bills, suffer from cardiac arrest on the field, the importance of access to AEDs is true for professional athletes as well as student athletes.”
Siena learned that Maynard currently has one AED to share amongst practice fields, which are a 10–15 minute walk apart.
“When my family and I were living in the Netherlands, we saw AEDs around the community and realised how accessible they were,” Siena said.
She continued to say that she wants Maynard to have access to AEDs where athletes of all ages participate in sports and exercise.
Empowering a Safer Community
Siena has been working with community leaders on her Public-Access AED Project through her Gold Award Committee whose members include the Maynard Fire Chief, Assistant Facilities Manager of the Department of Public Works, Assistant Principal at Maynard High School, an executive for the American Red Cross, a Registered Nurse, and Girl Scout Troop 66250 leaders.
Fire Chief Angela Lawless worked with Siena to create the Gold Award Fund to cover the cost of the AEDs, as well as a commitment by the Fire Department to manage the AEDs moving forward.
Siena has seen tremendous support from the community, including the Conservation Commission, which gave the Gold Award AED Project blanket approval to place AEDs on conservation land, as several of the identified locations fall within that distinction.
To date, Siena has received donations from the Friends of Maynard Soccer, Maynard Youth Soccer, the Kiwanis Club of Westford, Open Door Education, The Thoreau Club, Minuteman Building and Preservation, and Kathy and Eric Westin.
“I have been working on the project for a year,” Siena said. Having completed the research, community outreach and education as well as a portion of the fundraising, she is ready for the final phase of her project.
With the support of the community and assistance from her troop leaders and the Project Committee, Siena is looking forward to having the AEDs installed this summer. She will leave behind a lasting impact on her community and fellow student-athletes.
More Than a Local Story
While this started in one town, it’s a story that resonates everywhere. If one young person can spark change in her community, what could others do with the right tools and support?
¹ https://www.asumag.com/safety-security/fire-life-safety/article/20850611/shocking-statistics
