VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich. – The Michigan State Police Paw Paw Post received six new automated external defibrillators (AEDs) from Kalamazoo Mortgage on Wednesday.

The mortgage lender and Paw Paw Post recently partnered to add the additional AEDs, bringing the total number of AEDs the Post has to 11. Money for the AEDs came from the Kalamazoo Mortgage Hero Salute initiative.

An AED is commonly used to help restore a normal heartbeat rhythm to a person during a cardiac arrest episode by sending an electrical pulse to the heart.

According to the American Heart Association, early access to defibrillation is the third of six links in the out-of-hospital Chain of Survival, following calling 911 and starting high-quality CPR.