The automatic external defibrillator (AED) is your key to success when it comes to responding to a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) incident. SCA strikes approximately 340,000 people in the U.S. every year and less than 5 percent survive, with chances of survival dropping 10 percent for every minute that passes before cardiac rhythm is restored. An AED and early defibrillation program can improve survival rates, raising them as high as 60 percent in some estimates.
You can find AEDs in many public places, so you’ve no doubt walked by at least one at a mall, hotel, sports arena, or elsewhere. Most of us have also seen the AED in action in movies and on TV, with the patient’s chest and back arching dramatically off the ground as the device delivers a powerful shock. Often it’s that high-voltage image that’s in the back of someone’s mind when they see an AED, prompting many to say “no thanks” when it comes to being the bystander who actually pushes that button.