The Importance of AEDs in Schools
By: Hank Constantine
Right now, millions of students across the country are participating in physical activities at their schools: a basketball or soccer game, football and cheerleading practice, or gym class. What if one of them experienced Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), a life-threatening emergency? Would the school be prepared?
Just a little over a year ago, strapping, picture-of-health Matt Keene, then 17, collapsed after football practice at Kimball Union Academy (KUA) in Meriden, New Hampshire. If it hadn’t been for the quick actions of the KUA athletic staff members who ran to Matt’s side with an automated external defibrillator (AED) that supported high-quality CPR, Matt wouldn’t be alive today.
“When I got to his side, it was clear that he was in deep trouble,” said Jim Ouellette, RN at KUA. “We quickly assessed Matt, found that he wasn’t breathing, started CPR, and attached the one-piece electrode to his chest. After one shock, we did another round of chest compressions, and then something amazing happened. Out of the blue, Matt took this big, deep breath and he started to pink up. He had a strong pulse and started breathing on his own. At that point, we sat tight until the rescue squad arrived.”
SCA is the leading cause of death worldwide, with more than 325,000 deaths annually in the U.S. alone, with only a 5 percent survival rate. The only chance a victim of SCA has is a shock from a defibrillator combined with good Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
Unfortunately, many schools aren’t equipped with AEDs. Heart conditions tend to go undetected and often manifest themselves during physical activity. In the event of SCA, a quick response and the early use of an AED are critical to improving the chances of survival. With every minute that passes, the probability of survival drops by 10 percent.
The Importance of CPR
Another critical factor is CPR. About half of all SCA victims who are lucky enough to have a defibrillator attached to them prior to the arrival of an ambulance are told by the AED, after the first heart analysis, that “no shock is advised.” At that point, only CPR can return the heart to a shockable rhythm.
But the victim who most needs CPR is the one who has just been successfully shocked. A shocked heart needs blood to survive, and CPR can provide a lot of it to a heart that is struggling to achieve the “organized rhythm” needed to survive. The 2005 American Heart Association (AHA) Guidelines elevated CPR to an essential part of the rescue, stating that CPR is critical when no shock is advised and that all shocks should be followed immediately by high-quality CPR.
However, just because new technology has made AEDs easy to operate with minimal training, it’s still not always easy for rescuers to know if they are performing high-quality CPR. While all AEDs at least remind rescuers when to do CPR, the amount of help provided varies a lot, even though all AEDs are AHA Guidelines compliant. Some provide a “metronome” to help rescuers maintain the recommended rate of 100 compressions per minute. Others can even help rescuers achieve the recommended compression depth of 1.5 to 2 inches, which is also critical for effective CPR. Typically, these AEDs let rescuers see and hear how well they are performing during CPR.
In addition to having AEDs readily available in schools, it’s critically important that staff and coaches be given the proper training in their use, as well as how to provide effective, high-quality CPR. Anyone encountering a school rescue situation should act if they have a chance to save someone’s life. All states have passed Good Samaritan laws to encourage people to act in response to emergency situations. These provisions release rescuers from any liability should a rescue attempt not be successful.
Hank Constantine has been marketing director for AEDs at ZOLL Medical Corporation, a $398 million manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, since 2003, www.zoll.com.
