Alpharetta Fire Department launches community AED program to save lives

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - When Richard Matherly collapsed on a pickleball court, his heart stopped. 

He wasn’t alone—but he was dying.

What they're saying:

"I had a great pickleball game but walked off the court, was chatting with a couple of the buddies and I just dropped dead," Matherly recalled. "My heart quit. I fell to the concrete floor, smashed my head and quit breathing."

A bystander immediately began chest compressions. Moments later, a nurse located an automated external defibrillator (AED) just 40 feet away."She affixed the paddles, jumpstarted my heart. And I was alive again," Matherly said. "It was truly an amazing miracle."

What we know:

That miracle is one reason the Alpharetta Fire Department is working to make AEDs—and the ability to use them—more accessible to the public.

"We decided that we wanted to do better and become the best in the Atlanta area," said Austin Turnbull, Alpharetta Fire’s AED Program Manager. "Now prevalent in all of our recreational areas for every single city building and all of our park bathrooms…"

Now, the department is taking it a step further—placing AEDs directly into the hands of trained community volunteers who can respond to cardiac arrests even before emergency crews arrive.

"We want to have volunteers who can respond with us to get there before even our first responders can get there," Turnbull said.

Dig deeper:

The program equips citizens with compact, portable AED units and provides training through CPR classes. When a cardiac emergency occurs nearby, the volunteers are alerted via their phone and the AED device itself.

"This is the actual device and when you pull the pads by pulling this right here, then that also alerts dispatchers that you're working a cardiac arrest in a specific location," explained David Schweitzer, one of the program’s first volunteers.

"Since it remains in my truck all the time," Schweitzer added, "I can usually respond within a minute or so."

The city chose AVIVE-brand AEDs, which are designed to be user-friendly and guide volunteers through the lifesaving process with voice instructions.

"So the more opportunities that I have to be able to help people… it's extremely fulfilling," Schweitzer said.

What you can do:

Residents interested in volunteering can apply through the city and complete a brief series of training sessions. The goal: make sure no one in Alpharetta has to wait too long for help when every second counts.