PAD – reasons to encourage public access defibrillation

Defibrillation is the process of exposing one's heart to electrical impulses in order to deal with arrhythmia and prevent potentially deadly heart problems and complications such as cardiac arrhythmia, ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia.

Even though defibrillators are usually used by medical staff, there are mountable units which are located in public places, being present there for first aid in cases of any health issues affecting people. Then, civilians can help, using these devices and saving lives of fellow people. The instructions for usage of these devices are straightforward and, usually, even people with no training are capable of saving other people's lives.

Public Access Defibrillation

More and more cities all over the US are installing AEDs being there for public usage, should the necessity arise. Official public defibrillators of this type have a logo with a red heart and a white uniform lightning bolt. These devices, and many others of similar type, are mounted in public places around the world, being there, capable of preventing death in many cases.

Statistics say that, once AEDs have been installed in Tampa International Airport and Tuscon International Airport, patient survival has been raised at 75%. Moreover, people who suffered from sudden heart fibrillation in Las Vegas casinos got rescued in 74% of cases, with defibrillation taking place in less than 3 minutes. Finally, at American Airlines, a 40% increase of successful cardiac arrest treatments has been noted since the installation of AEDs.

AEDs Save Lives

Nowadays, people are getting more and more aware of the importance of these devices. In fact, in Boston, the Emergency Medical Services organize free training on CPR and AED devices. More than 5,000 people have been trained so far, in 90 locations in the city.

Moreover, an increasing number of police cars is being equipped with AEDs, in case of emergency. All these factors result in a significant increase in survival rates after cardiac arrests or other such problems. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the availability of these devices even further. However, there is still work to be done, since people need to learn how to use AEDs properly, avoiding negligence or malpractice.

Student training program is also something to be done, since students can help each other in situations of this type, reacting timely, saving lives before the ambulance arrives.

All in all, additional media campaigns are necessary, as well as funding of the whole project. AEDs are incredibly important and the progress made so far is remarkable, beckoning us to do even more, allowing many people to survive these common health problems, through humane acts of their fellow humans.