Jake Leet, 20, lies in a medically induced coma at Lawrence Memorial Hospital after collapsing on stage during a Theatre Lawrence performance of Shrek. Leet played Donkey in the musical. Were talking about one hour hes

Theatre Lawrence now has two automated external defibrillators installed and, on Saturday, will be the site of a free class to teach people to use them.

Lawrence resident Teri Leet shepherded the AED installation and organized the community class after her 20-year-old son Jake Leet suffered a heart attack on stage during Theatre Lawrence’s production of “Shrek” in December. A doctor and other audience members sprang into action to perform CPR on the young actor, who had a previously undiagnosed heart defect, saving his life.

Especially with no AED available at the time, Jake was very lucky, his mother said. She wants to help improve the chances of survival for anyone — actor, audience member or people in another public place — who might go into cardiac arrest in the future.

“What happened with Jacob is miraculous,” she said. “I feel that our community is close enough to educate a great proportion of our residents to be able to perform that same initiative.”

Saturday’s class starts at 10 a.m. at Theatre Lawrence, 4660 Bauer Farm Drive. It’s free. If possible, participants are urged to register in advance online at volunteerspot.com/login/entry/586257750072#/form.

The class is not a CPR certification course, but it will teach lifesaving hands-only CPR and go over use of an AED, said teacher Joe Stellwagon, a Lawrence resident, Johnson County Med-Act paramedic and CPR instructor.

The hands-only method, developed by the American Heart Association an the American Red Cross, is effective and approachable for the general public, Stellwagon said.

“It’s simple to remember, and it doesn’t involve the ventilations, which are usually the trickier of the skills,” he said. “More people are willing to do it because they don’t have to do mouth-to-mouth.”

Stellwagon supports AED placement in public places, especially where large crowds gather.

“In the rare event that something does happen, the survival rate increases if the use of an AED can be applied in the first few minutes,” he said.

Teri Leet’s CPR education and AED installation effort, called Heartbeats for the Heartland, expects to set dates for additional CPR training sessions soon. Theatre Lawrence’s AEDs were donated, and Saturday’s session is funded by donations received at a party for Jake, who his mother said is acting again and back to “100 percent.”