Seven Reasons to invest in your people, your customers and yourself!
Buy an AED!
01
35,000 Australians die every year from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)
Reducing the time to first shock is critical
It is not just older people who suffer cardiac arrest. In the United States about 7,000 to 16,000 children die from sudden cardiac arrest each year, often from undiagnosed heart defects. For adults, 10,000 sudden cardiac arrests occur in the workplace every year, with 13% of all workplace fatalities resulting from sudden cardiac arrest.
In Australia each week, 5 people under 35 suffer sudden cardiac arrest.
Here at International Paramedic College, we want to see an Australia where, if a friend or workmate has a cardiac arrest, you’ll be able to find an AED within minutes because for every minute defibrillation is delayed there is a 10% reduction in survival.
A recent article in the Australian Financial review asked the question “When so few medical conditions are completely unexplained, we retain a special horror for these stories of teenagers who go to sleep and never wake up, or of promising athletes who die mid-race. They raise the disturbing, unanswered question: why do the young and healthy sometimes drop dead?”
Just like first aid kits, smoke detectors and other safety measures, AED’s can save lives and we need them in the workplace close to where people are.
“More Australians die of Sudden Cardiac Arrest each year than those that die of Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Aids, Road Accidents and House Fires all combined!”
02
Ambulance response times
Reducing the time to first shock is critical
Australian Ambulance response times can vary widely. It is the nature of this big brown land. Average ambulance response times are published annually and you can see in the graph below that waiting for paramedics to deliver the first shock as your strategy in time-critical sudden cardiac arrest, may not be the best strategy. Many years ago, Bob Wright, the father of modern paramedics in Australia worked on the philosophy that if you were going to die between the event and the hospital then we better train paramedics to treat you. AED’s were developed to help the general public save lives before an Ambulance arrives by being easy to use in an emergency. Waiting for paramedics to arrive will reduce your chance of survival.
03
SCA is a workplace health and safety issue
Reducing the time to first shock is critical
Many people are concerned by the possible legal ramifications of having an AED in the workplace. Common worries include questions like “if we use an AED on someone and that person doesn’t survive, are we liable”, “is an AED in the workplace only provided for staff or should it be available to customers” and so on.
Whilst it would be prudent practice to seek out your own legal advice, some great reading on this topic is available from the blog “Australian Emergency Law” by Michael Eburn PhD and Barrister. Included herein are links to particularly relevant articles such as: “Legal issues when installing a defibrillator“, “Liability for installing, or not, an AED in a retirement community” and “Choosing not to install an AED for spurious reasons“.
Here are a couple of quotes from the articles mentioned above:
“Ambulance Victoria have demonstrated that Victorian SCA victims that receive their first shock from a by-stander who utilises an AED have a 1.96x higher chance of surviving the event (55%) than those that wait for a Victorian Ambulance (28%)!”
04
Focus on real service to your customers and staff in times when the need is greatest.
Its a paramedic adage -Taking the “what if” out of critical situations is vital for our mental well being
What is customer service? I hear business talk about customer focus and exceeding customer expectations. Having an AED when a customer needs one might just be better than a 5 star google or facebook review of your business or the feedback if you couldn’t help.
SCA can occur in any circumstance; work, rest or play. There are many contributing factors to SCA like diet, weight, exercise or lack of exercise, stress, genetic factors, though it is important to note that many SCA occur in young and otherwise healthy Australians.
Global studies over the past 20 years have provided similar outcomes. These studies have repeatedly demonstrated the link between AEDs and surviving a SCA. In addition, these studies have demonstrated that higher survival outcomes are achieved when the first shock is delivered within 3 minutes.
Compared to the rest of the world we are not as good at delivering the first shock in SCA.
“Survival of SCA in Australia is estimated to be 12%, or 25% if the SCA is witnessed by a bystander. Survival in other parts of the world is as high as 65% for a witnessed SCA!”
05
CPR is Not enough
Reducing the time to first shock is critical
Effective CPR where you press hard enough and fast enough on the chest may keep patients “salvageable” and by that I mean it circulates blood to the brain which is important, however, only an electric shock from an AED can restore a normal heart rhythm when a person experiences an abnormal heart rhythm such as ventricular fibrillation — the leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest. An AED delivers the required shock if it registers that a shock is needed by the patient. That’s why they call them “smart defibs”
06
SCA is the single largest health issue facing Australian workplaces
Reducing the time to first shock is critical
AEDs will calmly talk you through everything you need to do. So even if you haven’t been trained you can follow the voice instructions. They will automatically analyze the person’s heart rhythm and advise whether a shock is needed. You cannot accidentally shock someone because the AED only will charge to shock when it detects two life threatening rhythms – ventricular fibrillation and an unstable ventricular tachycardia. If someone just passes out and still has heartbeat, it will not charge to shock. In fact, studies show that sixth grade children can correctly use an AED in as little as 90 seconds.
07
What would your workplace be like after someone had died from a sudden cardiac arrest
Reducing the time to first shock is critical
As a paramedic I speak from experience. The “what if’s” ripple effect after tragedy and simply devastating.
The current model Code of Practice for First Aid in the Workplace only mandates first aid kits and trained first aiders. So, while an AED is not mandated, it could be used on you, your customers or your colleagues at work. It’s not always what we have to do, but what we should do.
You don’t only need to do something when you have too.
We need to do something when it is just the right thing to do.
OUR RECOMMENDED AED HAS
Fully Automatic model = no button to push to deliver shock. Semi-Automatic model = push button to deliver a shock. We recommend the fully automatic model for use as a public access defibrillator
Simply want to know more?
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