Valentine's Day often brings thoughts of hearts to the minds of Americans, but usually, the hearts that are conjured in the popular imagination are pink and made of lace and paper - not the ones that are made of cardiac tissue and full of blood.

Still, the Troy Fire Department wants to use the images of hearts to promote a technology that may keep the latter sort of heart beating and the residents of Pike County alive a bit longer. The firefighters are campaigning for businesses to purchase Automated External Defibrulator technology and have the devices dispersed all around town. They say that the technology can make the difference between life and death after a heart attack and the amount of time that elapses before one of the devices is used to apply electrical current to stalled cardiac tissue is critical.

"It is the desire of the Troy Fire Department in using the Automated External Defibrulator Campaign to make Troy one of the safest places to work, play, raise a family and attend school at the K-12 level as well as the collegiate level," said a spokesperson for the TFD.

"According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the Las Vegas casinos, after placing AED's in their facilities, are now the safest place to have a cardiac arrest."

The Journal stated, "74 percent of guests who suffered sudden cardiac arrest were saved by shocking the victims with an AED within three minutes of the onset of cardiac arrest."

The normal survivor rate is only approximately 8 percent."

The TFD extended a Valentine's Day plea to the community of Troy.

"This effort will have to be an effort of all the citizens of our community.

We need everyone to get involved to accomplish this. All we are asking for, at this point, is for businesses, schools, civic clubs, etc. to allow us to demonstrate how the AED's work and how they would benefit our community."

In addition, the TFD extended special thanks to Mayor Jimmy Lunsford, Fire Chief Ray Rhodes, Haynes Ambulance Service and many of local physicians for their support in efforts to promote the AED technology.