Nearly 1,000 people die each day from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). The most common cause of SCA is an irregular heart rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation. When ventricular fibrillation strikes the heart stops pumping blood and “quivers” uselessly, the victim goes unresponsive and does not breath. Death will occur in a matter of minutes. The treatment of ventricular fibrillation is to deliver an electrical shock called a defibrillation. Defibrillation will get rid of the extra electrical impulses that are causing the heart to quiver and allow the heart to begin beating on it’s own. For many years hospitals and ambulance staff have been able to use a defibrillator to send an electrical shock to the heart of the victim of SCA. Unfortunately, the ability to defibrillate a SCA victim decreases about 10% with each passing minute. Professional responders such as Fire and EMS officers do not reach most SCA victims for 6 to 8 minutes after the event. This is why less than 5% of sudden cardiac arrest victims survive.
Automated External Defibrillators or AEDs offer a means to change these percentages. By placing AEDs throughout our community we are able to reduce the amount of time between onset of ventricular fibrillation and defibrillation. When defibrillation occurs within the first 3-4 minutes of SCA, survival rates are as high as 70%.
Johnson County Med-Act has assisted in placing AEDs in most schools, all county buildings, many churches and businesses, and areas of mass gatherings throughout our county. By implementing even more AED placements, as well as teaching as many potential responders CPR as possible, we hope to increase the survival rate of victims suffering SCA.
Using an AED is very simple and can be taught during a CPR class. Since AEDs operate from computer programs, they are continuously improving. AEDs are user friendly and virtually error free. Federal and State laws protect AED owners and users from frivolous lawsuits, plus AEDs have safety mechanisms that prevent use when not needed.
For more information about AEDs please email medact@jocoems.org.
Links
Center for Early Defibrillation: www.early-defib.org
American Heart Association: www.americanheart.org
Medtronic/Physio-Control: www.medtronic-ers.com
Phllips: www.medical.philips.com/us/products/resuscitation
MARCER Registry: www.marc2.org/aed
