SOS TECHNOLOGIES-Chicago AED Equipment

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of death in the United States striking more than 250,000 individuals each year – more than house fires, AIDS, firearms, prostate and breast cancer, and automobile accidents combined. Sudden cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, to anyone, at any time – without warning, without symptoms, and regardless of age or general health. People who suffer sudden cardiac arrest usually do not know in advance that they are vulnerable to this fatal condition.

SCA is most often caused by ventricular fibrillation (VF), an irregular, quivering heart rhythm. The victim stops breathing, and no pulse is present. Defibrillation, an electric shock to the heart, is the only effective treatment for VF, stopping the chaotic activity and allowing a coordinated heart rhythm to resume. SCA can be caused by electrical shock, allergic reaction, drug overdose, suffocation, drowning, heart attack (myocardial infarction), or, in many cases, for no apparent reason.

Surviving SCA is largely dependent on how quickly the patient is defibrillated. For each minute that defibrillation is delayed, the victim’s chance of survival decreases by seven to ten percent. The patient suffers irreversible brain damage within 4 to 6 minutes after cardiac arrest.

After 10 minutes, few victims of SCA survive. Therefore, it is vital to situate defibrillators throughout a site to enable response with a defibrillator ready to deliver a shock, if needed, within 3 to 4 minutes of collapse.

When a response time goal is established, it should include the time required to retrieve the defibrillator, bring it to the patient, and apply it for use.

Early defibrillation programs greatly increase a sudden cardiac arrest victim’s chance for survival. Establishing an early defibrillation program in your organization provides employees and visitors with the best chance of surviving an SCA event.

Traditionally, defibrillation is delivered by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel summoned to the aid of an SCA victim. However, emergency personnel often arrive too late to provide defibrillation within the critical first few minutes following collapse. Even with the best EMS organizations, the total time from witnessed collapses to defibrillation is often longer than ten minutes.

The goal of an early defibrillation program is to achieve a 3-4 minute response time from collapse of the patient to arrival of the defibrillator and delivery of the first defibrillation shock. This response time goal is based on several factors. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires treatment within 3-4 minutes for life-threatening events, such as severe bleeding, respiratory arrest, or cardiac arrest. The American Heart Association recommends defibrillation response times from 3-5 minutes, depending on the environment. The Department of Health and Human Services and the General Services Administration identify 3 minutes or less as the “optimal response time” for an early defibrillation program.

Placing automated defibrillators in the hands of trained lay rescuers who can defibrillate an SCA victim within 3-4 minutes of collapse greatly increases the victim’s chance of survival. Survival rates of over 50% have been consistently achieved where lay rescuer early defibrillation programs have been established. These rates are twice those reported for the most effective EMS systems, and ten times better than the national EMS system average of 5%!

The fast time to first shock delivery is what makes the difference! Please call your SOS representative today for more information or for a demonstration of the Philips Medical Systems’ HeartStart AED's.