Heart-shaped boxes are a common sight this time of the year, but the ones that Shannon Bucci and her family distributed on Feb. 7 at the Hampton Community Center's Adult Lounge may save lives.

Each contained an automated external defibrillator, or AED, a portable machine that can check the heart's rhythm and send an electric shock to it to restore the appropriate rhythm. The family donated to 14 local organizations.

AEDs are used to treat sudden cardiac arrest — the condition that claimed Bucci's sister, Maureen Knapp, at age 35 while watching her daughters play softball at a Jefferson Township park.

“At most of the fields where my boys are playing ball, there is not an AED around,” said Bucci, a Hampton resident. “Even after 10 years there are still not AEDs. I'm a nurse and I always wished there would have been an AED at that field. I don't know if it would have saved her life, but I would have liked them to have tried.”

Last summer, Bucci and her family organized a 5K at North Park to raise funds to place AEDs at area sports complexes.

Knapp's daughter, Mackenzie, 22, said her family was “shocked” by the $18,000 that they raised toward the cause.

“We never would have imagined raising as much as we did and being able to buy 14 of them (AEDs), and I think it showed our whole family that we have so much support,” the Lawrenceville resident said.

The family purchased the units through Hampton-based CPR Simplicity . They also purchased AED and CPR training for five representatives from each athletic association or complex.

Owner Dave Bianco said CPR is important because it “can convert a flatline into a shockable rhythm, then the defibrillator can shock it.”

Vince Bianco, Bloomfield Dek Hockey vice president, said hockey, baseball and basketball leagues participate at the Paul J. Scuillo Memorial Park. He thinks representatives from all three leagues will receive AED and CPR training .

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute website states that sudden cardiac arrest occurs when “the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating ... blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs.”

While people with heart disease are at an increased risk for sudden cardiac arrest, it may affect those who appear otherwise healthy, according to the Institute.

Madison Knapp, 23, also of Lawrenceville, said her mother was healthy. Madison stressed the importance of “being conscious of your health and your children's health.”

The Institute recommends following a heart-healthy lifestyle by managing one's weight, stress, diet, physical activity and quitting smoking to prevent sudden cardiac arrest.

George Vogel, Pine Richland Baseball Softball Association safety director, said his players' parents have mentioned wanting an AED at board meetings.

“We are so thrilled to receive this life-saving device,” said Hampton Soccer Club president Jeff Baum. “We don't have one currently at the soccer fields, and we have so many old and young people up there at all times.”

“We took an awful loss and we tried our best to do something to one, honor our sister and two, hopefully prevent another family from enduring the same loss that we did,” said Casey Mullen, of Aspinwall, one of Knapp's brothers.

Erica Cebzanov is a Tribune-Review contributor.

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