The View From Highland Ranch
By John McCormick
AED, the Under-Used Life Saver
Is there an AED in every school in this area? If not, why not? After all, they save lives every day.
Perhaps your question is, just what is an AED? AED stands for Automatic External Defibrillator, a $2,000 to $3,000 device that is the only way to start a heart which has stopped; in other words, when it works, it reverses death.
AED information being given out is still misleading; for example, there was a report by Doctor Tim Johnson on Thursday's ABC Morning Show that again focused on AEDs and the fact that they are so important.
But he misstated the fact that "anyone with a few hours training can learn to use one." That's the medical community's standard line but it is completely untrue. In fact, the average 5th grader can use one with 30 seconds' training and most 13-year-olds can probably use one simply by having it handed to them since the device will ONLY work when properly used and when needed. It also talks users through the proper use and corrects mistakes.
It's really tough to use; just push the "ON" button, slap two pads on bare skin somewhere in the chest area, and press the "SHOCK" button if it lights up or the machines tells you to. If the computer hasn't analyzed the heart's signals and determined that the shock is both necessary and might work, the unit is disabled anyway except when overridden by experienced medical personnel and only on special "professional" AEDs such as those carried in ambulances.
Actual tests have shown that a 10-year-old may be able to use the unit more quickly than a trained paramedic, presumably because paramedics would attempt to check the patient's vital signs themselves, as they are trained to do, but the kid would just slap on the pads and let the computer inside the AED do all this, perhaps shaving a critical minute off its use. A paramedic would also immediately start CPR so the slight extra delay isn't very important even though time is critical when a heart stops.
Every minute that passes before the AED is used cuts the chance of survival by 10 percent and even a few minutes' delay can lead to serious brain damage.
I was shocked a few weeks ago when a Pittsburgh TV channel reported on AEDs and some people who wanted to make certain they weren't subjected to them by "untrained" people, preferring instead to wait until an ambulance showed up.
That reminded me of my very old and very confused aunt who once told me that if something happened to her husband she wouldn't dial 911, she would first try to call their family doctor. The Pittsburgh reporter was irresponsible in failing to remind the person and viewers that an AED simply can't be misused by anyone at worst it won't work at all, and at best it saves a life. Even worse, even in a big city it will take several minutes for an ambulance to arrive, by which time the victim is already dead a really big downside to distrusting a foolproof medical device in the hands of a stranger.
I recently witnessed an automobile accident in downtown Pittsburgh at 3 a.m. where there was little traffic on the roads, yet it took more than six minutes for the ambulance to arrive and another minute to get to the victims. That might seem fast, but seven minutes cut the chance of survival to only 30 percent if someone had suffered heart failure and the intersection was within sight of UPMC Hospital consider the delays during rush hour.
The Red Cross is also throwing up roadblocks by making it mandatory that some authorized person undergo mandatory training before they will help authorize an AED purchase, a very short-sighted policy in my opinion because these devices are designed for ANYONE to use. I understand the urge of a bureaucracy to perpetuate itself any way possible, but this can and probably does cost lives needlessly.
Governor Ridge has signed the first bill in the country giving state money to help schools buy an AED so, since it is the ONLY way to save the life of someone who suffers heart stoppage more than 10 minutes away from an emergency room, why don't we have more of them? Even if a doctor is present, he or she will be able to do little to save the victim unless he or she has an AED and can do little more immediately than anyone else who has the AED available.
Pennsylvania and many other states already have Good Samaritan laws in place that protects a person who takes reasonable action such as using an AED to try to save a life.
Although young athletes can rarely suffer heart stoppage either due to an undiagnosed medical problem or a severe injury or blow to the chest, I suspect that, being older and, according to many of then, under a great deal of stress due to their jobs, teachers and administrators in the schools are by far more likely to suffer a heart attack than a student so I don't understand why they wouldn't be pushing hard to raise the money from their own union members to buy a $3,000 life saver for every school building in the district. By the way, you can purchase reconditioned AEDs for even less than new ones and that's probably a lot better choice for individuals, businesses, and schools where the device will only be used rarely by the way, every AED I've ever seen self-tests continuously and automatically reports any problems so a reconditioned unit is every bit as good as a brand new one, both are used the second you put in the battery.
Yes, ambulances should have AEDs, but so should every police or other emergency vehicle, every public building, school, and every business that cares for its customers.
I have one and when I go to local events I carry it with me, just in case. Before you buy a projection TV, consider buying an AED.
Of course I don't expect this column to do much good.
I often think about stopping this column because it doesn't seem to accomplish anything. Why, even something as simple as my offer to pay for the paint to create much-needed handicapped parking space at PAH's Outpatient Clinic entrance apparently generated a lot of discussion at the hospital, but no one from the hospital contacted me to take me up on the offer and I still haven't seen any action in the parking lot. Perhaps the hospital's board should give The Americans With Disabilities Act a quick read. My book, "Computers and the ADA, a Manager's Guide to Adaptive Office Technology," which I donated to the local library a few years back, may not have been discarded yet and it carries a copy of the law, which should make interesting reading for those who think they can ignore such complaints.
Copyright, 2003 John A. McCormick, Inc.
