Staff Reports

Marengo County-The American Heart Association is placing Marengo residents under lock and key.

On Wednesday Dec. 3 the AHA, along with the Volunteer Cardiac Arrest “Parole Board,” will hold the annual Cardiac Arrest Event.

This event will be held at Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital in the lobby from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Mike Whitfield will play the role of Judge Heartless and blood pressure screenings will be held the day of the event.

The Marengo County Cardiac Arrest is unique, as it combines fund -raising and fun into one event. A group of very important citizens will turn themselves in and be charged at the Cardiac Arrest for “crimes of the heart.” In order to be released, the arrestees must post bail.

The purpose of this event is to acquire donations, which will assist the American Heart Association in its mission of reducing death and disability die to cardiovascular disease and stroke by 25 percent by the year 2010. CVD is America’s number one killer, claiming one life every 33 seconds.

The American Heart Association supports over $9 million in valuable biomedical research to universities in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi including grants to various schools of medicine and teaching hospitals.