elementary school gym indoor
July 21, 2019 0 Comments

With another school year past and summer being among us now is the time to check your automated external defibrillator (AED). Why have an automated external defibrillator you ask? To better equip yourself and your school in the event that someone in your school has a cardiac arrest event. 

Blurred Soccer Field at School. Young Soccer Players Training on Pitch. Soccer Stadium Grass Background
Young soccer players playing soccer on a grass field.

Cardiac arrest happens to all ages, fitness levels and kinds of people. 450,000 people suffer and die from cardiac arrest each year! Sudden cardiac arrest happens to people usually without warning. CPR is able to be performed by bystanders until the AED is brought to the scene. With the addition of an AED on site, the time frame to when that person gets the first help decreases the chance of it leading to death. 

Knowing the process of how to handle cardiac arrest when it strikes can be learned in many places. Here at AED Land we offer training and the materials needed to provide CPR and defibrillation in minutes! In 2015 the American Heart Association stressed the importance of defibrillation training and how many deaths could be prevented with the proper training and equipment. 

With advanced technology, we are able to detect real time CPR feedback on the depth and rate of chest compressions. Depth measures how much air is taken in and rate of chest compressions, meaning how many times we compress the chest to expel air. Having AED technology readily available in your school, you are able to potentially save lives when the need arises. You also will get the tools to properly train your staff and students!  

With the latest AED, you won’t have to worry about shocking at the wrong time or worry about not being able to feel their breath. Automated external defibrillators today can now help aid in the process of resuscitation. Along with continuing to improve the technology, AED companies have designed their AEDs with clear instructions with pictures to aid you in rescuing a person in cardiac arrest whether it be in your home, school, or work. 

AED (Automated Extenal Defibrillator) - Heart defibrillator hanging on the wall in school prepared to provide life-saving treatment
AED (Automated Extenal Defibrillator) – Heart defibrillator hanging on the wall in a school prepared to provide life-saving resuscitation.

Having AEDs in schools has saved more lives across the country.  AEDs have become a standard on athletic fields, gymnasiums and in the various school buildings as emergency medical equipment.  Some schools have taken the initiative to be prepared for cardiac arrest, while in other states the legislatures have mandated the automated external defibrillators be placed in the schools and be at all athletic events. Having an AED close by can help increase the chances of survival for someone suffering from cardiac arrest.

Placement of automated external defibrillators in schools should be based on the size of the school and the ability to quickly access that AED when in the situation of cardiac arrest. Having just one in the school health office or nurses office isn’t enough. Remember brain damage can occur if defibrillation doesn’t happen within three to five minutes. Death is almost a given if more than seven minutes passes without resuscitation efforts. 

A minute may seem like a long time with you have to sit and wait with anticipation but when in a life or death situation one minute is one minute too long. A recent news article from Reuters News Service (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-emergency-response-times/be-prepared-for-ambulance-wait-times-idUSKBN1A42KQ) reports that the average response time for an ambulance to arrive is eight minutes in cities and nearly 15 minutes in a rural areas.  This reason alone is why having an AED placed in as many rooms as financially possible and quality training of staff and students is the best thing to do to help save lives.

Here is a story about a student and how an automated external defibrillator saved his life. This story is only one of many students who have been saved and forever changed by an AED.

In an interview with WBIR a Middle School P.E. Teacher describes a moment when a student went into cardiac arrest.  The P.E. teacher said that while doing warmups before their activity, he saw a student fall to the ground. After sprinting over to the student and finding no pulse, he had another P.E. teacher race to the gym and get the AED.

The staff had just recently had just recently had training on proper usage of the AED and were able to use the AED and CPR on the student until the ambulance arrived.  This saved the student’s life and that student is now working to educate the community about AEDs and how they can save someone’s life.

You can read the watch the interview below and/or read the full article at: https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/teachers-use-aed-to-save-students-life-after-he-goes-into-cardiac-arrest/319232768

Having automated and semi automated external defibrillators is an important health concern and it is not difficult to get a program going in your school. Reaching out to local physicians, emergency medical services, department of human services, or a nurse may be all it takes to get the program started and going in your school system. Some organization will donate money to purchase the equipment and help with training. Getting your local emergency medical service involved by having a publicly advertised training event to bring awareness to the need is a possibility. The options are endless and we love options. 

Many states have laws that protect schools, and there is a federal law, the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act, that preempts state laws. This protects users or providers of AEDs from lawsuits unless gross negligence or reckless behavior is suspected or proven. In a future article we will discuss state laws on AEDs and what they mean. 

Here at AEDland we offer all the supplies you need along with equipment for any situation you need. We also offer quality training at a very affordable price along with CPR and are happy to help make your school cardiac arrest ready. To get started, please click here and take a look at our AED packages.