This week’s speakers, Captain James Ellis and April West of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, will discuss public access automated external defibrillators (AEDs), CPR education and the Citizen Responder Project, an initiative designed to improve survival from sudden cardiac arrest by connecting trained community members and readily accessible AEDs with cardiac emergencies.  We will also honor the Student of the Quarter from Pleasant Grove Middle School.

James has been in the fire service since 1997, beginning his career in Weed, California, and serving with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, now Cal Fire. He has served in Sacramento County since 2004 and has been a fire captain since 2015. He currently works in the EMS Division, focusing on new paramedic training and operations, and helped launch Sac Metro’s heart-safe community initiative, the Citizen Responder Project. 

He and his wife of 22 years, Cortleigh, live in Placerville and have four children. James enjoys coaching competitive soccer, long-distance running and traveling with his family. 

April West works in communications and community engagement with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, helping advance the Citizen Responder Project through hands-only CPR education, public access AED awareness and community partnerships. Her background includes communications, community engagement and event planning in public safety, parks and recreation, and healthcare. 

April lives in Cameron Park with her husband, Ryan, and their children, where they enjoy soccer, trips to Lake Tahoe and supporting their favorite nonprofits.

James and April are working on an initiative to place public access AEDs in parks and provide hands-on CPR education within the community. They will discuss the importance of having lifesaving equipment readily available when someone experiences sudden cardiac arrest and share examples of other Rotary clubs in the Sacramento area that have helped install public access AEDs.

The speakers will also discuss Nevaeh’s Safety Sports Act, which takes effect January 1, 2028, and will require AEDs to be available at youth sporting events and practices.

The issue recently hit close to home following a cardiac emergency at Lions Park in Placerville, where an AED has not yet been installed.

Join us October 8 to learn more about creating heart-safe communities and how greater access to AEDs and CPR education can help save lives.

Ken Futernick, Ph.D., co-lead of Bridging Divides El Dorado, spoke to the club about something most of us have experienced — trying to maintain relationships with people when we strongly disagree.

As reported in last week’s Gear Up, Futernick began his career as a teacher in the Rescue Union School District and has devoted much of his career to education. He launched the Teacher Stories podcast in 2018 and Courageous Conversations About Our Schools in 2021. He now helps lead Bridging Divides El Dorado, an initiative that works to strengthen relationships and encourage respectful conversations among people with different viewpoints.

Futernick said political polarization has caused some friends and family members to avoid certain subjects — and, in more serious cases, stop communicating altogether. Bridging Divides does not encourage people to avoid difficult subjects, he said. Instead, it helps them learn how to disagree while maintaining their relationships.

One of the most important steps, Futernick said, is to begin with something people have in common. At Bridging Divides gatherings, participants might first be asked what they love about El Dorado County or what brought them here. Once people share their personal stories, they begin seeing one another as individuals rather than adversaries.

The second step is learning to listen with curiosity rather than preparing a rebuttal.

Futernick described an exercise he uses in workshops. Two people discuss something about which they feel strongly. One speaks for three minutes while the other listens without interrupting. The listener then summarizes what was said and asks, “Did I get that right?”

Participants have told him it is refreshing to speak without being interrupted or judged — and equally meaningful to discover that the other person actually heard them.

Futernick encouraged Rotarians to try the same approach in their own conversations: listen, summarize what the other person has said and make sure you understand before responding. Instead of immediately challenging someone’s facts or sources, ask questions about how the person reached that conclusion.

“You might find some common ground, or maybe we’ll agree to disagree,” Futernick said. The important result, he explained, is being able to walk away understanding one another better.

Although much of his presentation focused on political polarization, Futernick emphasized that the same principles apply to many other disagreements involving families, finances, organizations, education and everyday life. Listening, curiosity and treating others with dignity can help lower the temperature of difficult conversations.

His message to the club was simple: We don’t have to agree, but we can learn to “disagree better.” By beginning with common ground and listening to understand rather than listening to respond, Futernick said, people often discover they have more in common than they thought.