While the month of October may be ending, the nation’s leading silent killer will remain standing. Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) kills 1,000 people PER DAY in the United States alone. That is approximately 1 life every minute.
When an organization reviews their Emergency Response Plan (ERP) they should consider addressing life-threatening emergencies that are likely to occur at their facility.SCA should be a topic that is covered during review of the organization ERP if the local EMS or first responder teams can not get to the VICTIM (from time of their collapse, not from time of the 9-1-1 call) in well under 4-6 minutes. With national averages for EMS response being 8-10 minutes in urban areas and higher than that in rural areas; it is highly likely that almost any organization should consider the implementation of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) program to offset the risk of death occurring from any SCA event at their facility.
Here are some key facts on why any workplace or organization where people pass through, congregate, and work should consider AEDs.
1) Many victims of SCA did not know they were at risk, and could not recognize warning signs, if any had been present. In fact, two-thirds of SCA deaths occur without any prior indications of heart disease. Anyone can experience sudden cardiac arrest, including healthy infants, high school athletes, and healthy athletes or people in their 30s and 40s who have no sign of heart disease. There are certain populations that have been shown to be at higher risk but SCA is a silent and deadly killer that is non-discriminatory in that it will take the life of any age, any rage or any gender of person. This fact is vital because the victim can not be equipped to properly save their life if they do not know they have a heart condition.
2) CPR alone is not enough. Ninety-five percent of victims of SCA die because they do not receive medical attention in time. Currently, defibrillation delivered within the first 6 minutes of an SCA accounts for the 5 percent survival statistics. Survival can be as high as 90 percent if treatment is initiated within the first 4–6 minutes after SCA. The rate decreases by about 10 percent each minute longer. Those who receive a life-saving shock from an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) have a good long-term outlook.
3) There are Good Samaritan Laws to protect users of AEDs and organizations like Think Safe can provide you a turnkey AED Acquirer/Owner package that puts the right AED program in place at your facility to protect you from any liability risks. With the purchase of any equipment at your facility, the costs and risks of keeping it maintained have to be considered. That should not be any different with the purchase of an AED. However, easy to use cloud based SAAS self-maintenance low-cost tracking solutions such as www.firstvoicemanager.com exist to ensure that someone at your facility does the AED check regularly and has a readily available servicing log with the click of a mouse.
While good quality CPR is important to saving the life of anyone who is unresponsive, for SCA events it is important and essential to have an AED. Think Safe has AED complete packages available for close to $1,000 that include an AED Administrator Toolkit, training, servicing and any tool needed for your AED implementation and management.
For more information on Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and how to be better prepared contact Think Safe at 888-473-1777 or or complete the form below. Ask to see our First Voice Manager webinar or our AED Acquirer webinar — guaranteed to be comprehensive and educational regarding proper AED program implementation and easy long term care!
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