Saved on the Field: How a Florida County's Bet on Smart Tech is Redefining Survival

LEE COUNTY, FL – December 29, 2025 – One year ago, the crack of the bat at the Lee Health Sports Complex was silenced by a life-or-death emergency. Today, the sounds of the game are back, and so is 64-year-old Keenan Brown. Cheered on by his wife, Janine, and their three young children, Brown stepped back onto the very baseball field where he collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest in November 2024. His return is not just a personal victory; it is a powerful testament to a system designed to turn potential tragedies into tales of survival.

Brown’s story highlights a growing movement in public safety, where community preparedness and connected technology converge to fight one of medicine's most formidable adversaries. What happened on that field demonstrates how a proactive strategy, empowering ordinary people with smart medical devices, can profoundly alter outcomes.

A Game-Changing Emergency

During a routine seniors' baseball tournament, Keenan Brown suddenly fell to the ground. He was in sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), a condition where the heart unexpectedly stops beating. Within moments, Lee Health Sports Complex Security Supervisor Tony Nazarro recognized the signs and sprang into action. He retrieved an Avive Connect AED from a clearly marked public access point and followed its clear, calm instructions.

The device administered two lifesaving shocks before emergency medical services (EMS) even arrived. Brown survived, a direct result of Nazarro's rapid response and the accessible, easy-to-use defibrillator.

"I remember nothing until waking up and seeing all these people standing around me," Brown recalled. "I saw an AED next to me and I saw Tony. I got a lot of heroes, but he's one of them up near the top. He's always in a prayer. And that AED, can't even begin to say that's what did it."

For Nazarro, a veteran security supervisor familiar with various emergency devices, the experience was remarkably straightforward, even in a high-stress environment. "Every single AED unit that I've ever picked up, I've had different systems. This has been the easiest one I've used so far," he stated. "It just talked to you and you didn't even have to push a button. It tells you we're gonna shock him. Stand clear, you yell, stand clear. And it did the shock."

The Stark Reality of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Keenan Brown's survival is, statistically, an exception. In the United States, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) occur annually, and the outcome is grim: approximately 90% are fatal. National survival rates hover below 10%, a figure that underscores the extreme time sensitivity of the condition. With every minute that passes without defibrillation, the chance of survival drops significantly.

While advanced hospital care exists, its effectiveness depends entirely on getting the patient there with a viable heartbeat. "I've seen a lot of technology through the years," said Benjamin Abes, Director of Public Safety for Lee County. "None of that matters if we can't get the shock to the victim in a timely manner."

This is where Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs become critical. Research shows that when a bystander uses an AED before EMS arrives, survival rates can skyrocket, in some cases reaching as high as 70%. Yet, bystander AED use remains alarmingly low, often below 5%, due to lack of device access, fear, or uncertainty. Brown’s story is a powerful counter-narrative, illustrating what is possible when those barriers are removed.

A Blueprint for a Heart-Safe Community

What happened to Keenan Brown was not a matter of luck; it was the result of a deliberate, county-wide strategy. Lee County has invested in strengthening its emergency response ecosystem by deploying more than 250 Avive Connect AEDs across public buildings, parks, and high-traffic venues like the sports complex. This initiative transforms a passive safety measure into an active, integrated network.

Unlike traditional AEDs that sit silently on a wall, these connected devices provide Lee County's 911 and emergency communications teams with unprecedented oversight. "Implementing the use of Avive AEDs into our system was amazing because it allowed us to not only know where the AEDs are, but also to monitor them in real-time diagnostics," explained Casey Allo, the county's Emergency Communications Manager. "We can see their battery levels, we can see if one was deployed, we can dispatch one to the scene, we can get all of that data. This truly makes that AED a powerful tool and exceptionally usable tool."

This connectivity creates a live-managed system. Dispatchers can direct a rescuer to the nearest working AED, confident that its battery is charged and it is ready for use. This real-time data link between the device, the bystander, and the 911 center closes critical gaps in the chain of survival. Abes believes this approach is the future. "I think that's where this type of technology will change how the cardiac-arrest story in the pre-hospital environment goes in the future," he noted.

The Future of Preparedness: Beyond the Ballpark

Lee County's success serves as a potential blueprint for other municipalities nationwide. The county is already looking ahead, exploring ways to expand AED access beyond public facilities and into residential neighborhoods—a crucial step for a region with a large, active population spread across diverse geography.

This vision aligns with the '4 Minute Community™' Program, an initiative promoted by Avive Solutions aiming to ensure defibrillation is available within a four-minute walk of a person, no matter where cardiac arrest strikes. This ambitious goal seeks to fundamentally reshape the landscape of emergency response.

"Keenan's survival is exactly why Avive exists," said Sameer Jafri, CEO of Avive Solutions. "What saved Keenan's life was a prepared community, an empowered responder, and a connected AED that supported the entire chain of survival... Lee County's commitment to making defibrillation accessible, visible, and integrated with their emergency response ecosystem is setting a new standard for public safety."

As Keenan Brown plays ball under the Florida sun, his presence on the field is a living reminder that survival should not be left to chance. It can be engineered through preparation, technology, and a community-wide commitment to empowering its citizens to save a life. By investing in this connected infrastructure, Lee County is ensuring more families have the chance to cheer from the sidelines rather than wait in uncertainty.