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Gift provides 12 cardiac defibrillators
Posted May 9, 2007
IOWA CITY -- Through generous gifts in memory of University of Iowa alumnus Maynard "Moe" Whitebook, the family and friends of the 1950 economics graduate have made possible the purchase and placement of 12 automated external defibrillators on the UI campus. The gifts were made through the UI Foundation.
UI Assistant Vice President and Director of Public Safety Charles D. Green said the medical equipment, designed for use by CPR-trained individuals in the case of a heart attack, will provide a valuable public service. “This gift of defibrillators provides wonderful support for our ongoing efforts to keep everyone on the UI campus safe in every way possible,” Green said. “We hope the devices never need to be used, but if they are employed, they can make the difference between life and death.” On the main UI campus, the defibrillators are located in the Bowen Science Building, the Field House, Hancher Auditorium, John Pappajohn Business Building, Levitt Center for University Advancement, Lindquist Center, the Main Library, the Nursing Building, Old Capitol Museum and the UI Museum of Art. On the Oakdale Campus, defibrillators have been placed in the Hygienic Laboratory and in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health. Two of the devices had been placed as a result of a Whitebook family gift in 2001; the rest are new additions to the earlier gift. Janet Whitebook, Moe Whitebook’s wife and a 1952 UI graduate in speech pathology and audiology, said her husband’s family and friends were very pleased to provide the units. "We felt these defibrillators would be a wonderful way to honor my husband’s memory and to help save lives," she said. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), sudden cardiac arrest affects about 1,000 Americans each day. The AHA cites early cardiopulmonary resuscitation and rapid defibrillation as the two major contributors to survival among adult cardiac-arrest victims. Defibrillation is a process in which an electronic device, called an "automated external defibrillator," administers an electric shock to reestablish normal contraction rhythms in a heart that's not beating properly. Moe Whitebook was a native of Iowa City, where he and his wife, Janet, raised their four children. After serving in the Navy during World War II and graduating from the UI, Moe found success in his clothing store, Moe Whitebook's in downtown Iowa City, and also in his real estate career. The couple eventually moved to Marco Island, Fla., where Janet Whitebook still resides. Moe Whitebook was a broker and salesman for Coldwell Banker, McFadden & Sprowls on Marco Island. He also served on the Marco Island Board of Realtors and sat on the board of trustees for the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island. Like her husband, who died in 1999, Janet Whitebook is a member of the Presidents Club of the University of Iowa, which recognizes the UI's most generous contributors. The UI acknowledges the UI Foundation as the preferred channel for private contributions that benefit all areas of the university. For more information about the UI Foundation, visit its web site at www.uiowafoundation.org. Contact Information
David Triplett |
