campus news
Ten community organizations received AEDs from UB and UBMD physicians
Talea Barnes (third from left) of the Winslow FK Block Club happily holds the AED that has been donated to the organization she and Antonio Henry (second from left) represent, while Maurice Garner (Left) of the Men's Prayer Fellowship of Western New York and Rashone Scott-Williams of the WNY Mobile Overdose Prevention Services Inc. join them at the podium. Photo: Nancy J. Parisi
By ELLEN GOLDBAUM
Published August 10, 2026
Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) save lives, so having one nearby when someone goes into cardiac arrest is essential. But at $2,000 apiece, AEDs are often too costly for some businesses and organizations, especially in neighborhoods that are underserved.
Last month, at an event at Memorial Temple Christian Ministries on Sycamore Street titled “East Side AED Mapping Brunch and Learn,” physicians from UB and UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine presented AEDs to representatives of 10 community organizations. It was hosted by Western New York Mobile Overdose Prevention Services, also known as WNY Mobile OPS.
The AEDs were donated to UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine thanks to funding from the Bauer Family Foundation and Mary Wilson.
When asked what getting the AED means for her organization, Marnetta Malcolm, founder of Mike's Lounge/Buffalo Funk Fest Foundation, said, “It means much more to the community I serve. Having the device on site provides the ability to help someone right away while you’re waiting on EMT.”
Other organizations that received AEDs are:
- King Urban Life Center
- Northland Beltline Taxpayers Association
- Elim Christian Fellowship
- Tabernacle of Praise
- Buffalo Wolverines (Schiller Park Football Headquarters)
- Buffalo's Golden Corner
- Winslow FK Block Club
- Agnes Youth and Family Center
- WNY Mobile Overdose Prevention Services Inc.
The AEDs are built by the company Avive. With these devices, recipients can be connected to a platform that allows them to be notified of, and directed to, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in their proximity as community collaborators. This initiative is part of an ongoing effort by UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine and UB to address barriers to bystander CPR/AED training and AED access, especially in underserved Buffalo communities.
Bisson (left) expressed thanks to Mary Wilson and Gregory M. Bauer whose donations to UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine made the distribution of AEDS to the community groups possible. Photo: Nancy J. Parisi
The local effort was spearheaded by Leslie J. Bisson, June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, MD, Chair of Orthopaedics at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, president and CEO of UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine and medical director for the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres.
Bisson was a member of the first response team that provided on-field care for Bills safety Damar Hamlin when he suffered cardiac arrest in January 2023.
Since then, Bisson has been working with community groups to overcome barriers to CPR training and AED access in underserved areas in Western New York. He and his team of instructors, many of whom are UB medical students, have now trained more than 37,640 people in Western New York in hands-only CPR/AED training.
“Our goal with this project was to focus on a concentrated geographic area, specifically Buffalo’s East Side,” says Nomi Weiss-Laxer, research assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at UB and research scientist at UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.
“We aimed to identify community collaborators at the grassroots level and engage them both in AED mapping and assessing where AEDs are most needed. With the generosity of our supporters, we conducted an AED needs assessment on the East Side and identified community organizations for the AED donations. This is a first step in increasing bystander AED use in our community.”
The work is connected to a national effort aimed at saving lives by logging and mapping the precise locations of AEDs, the devices that literally shock the heart into beating again in someone experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.
Nationwide, the survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest without CPR/AED use is just 10%, but rapid use of CPR and an AED can triple the chances of survival. Yet, in many cases, the challenge is not the absence of an AED but the inability to find one quickly. Knowing where the nearest AED is located can mean the difference between life and death.
Says Bisson: “Even if you can’t do everything, doing something is still better than doing nothing at all. Damar was saved by trained people, the proper equipment and a solid, well-rehearsed plan. Ideally that happens everywhere. Our goal is to get more people to feel comfortable calling 911, beginning chest compressions and finding and using an AED. If we can do that, we will be closing that gap, no matter where a cardiac arrest happens.”
More information about the UB and UBMD CPR/AED project is available on this UB Medicine podcast.
