You're casually walking down Orange Avenue when you notice a man collapsed in Spreckels Park. A woman is doing compressions on his chest. As you're taking this all in, she raises her head and says directly to you, "Call 9-1-1. Then find an AED and bring it back to me fast!"
Well, we all know how to dial 9-1-1 and what that means. But what the heck is an AED and where do I go to find one?
An AED can save a life.
AED stands for Automated External Fibulator and it was designed for use by non-professionals. It can save the life of someone suffering from Sudden Cardiac Arrest. I received my first knowledge of this when Jacqui Hardt, a CPR instructor and Coronado CERT Board Member, taught a group of CERT members how to perform CPR—the new CPR—at the April CERT meeting. The new CPR is based on the fact that compressions are more important than breathing. Compressions are like “priming a pump” and since air is present in the blood it keeps the brain supplied with oxygen. That same evening, she showed us an AED and how to use it. The lesson was reinforced last week when Loralee Olejnik from the San Diego Fire Department Medical Services and San Diego Project Heart Beat came to the May meeting and repeated the procedure.
Loralee Olejnik from Project Heart Beat
Project Heart Beat started in 2001 with the goal of getting 250 of these machines out on the streets before the Superbowl. They actually got 500 out. Ten years later, there are 5,000 out on the streets.
They are used when someone goes into Cardiac Arrest, their heart stops pumping, or when the human electrical system goes haywire. The heart is not beating but is shaking or fibulating. The AED gets the heart going again until the person can get real medical help.
When the heart is fibulating, the chance of survival goes down. The brain can only be deprived of oxygen for a very short time and ten percent is lost each minute that passes. Keeping the brain supplied is paramount so compressions should be started immediately (a good rate guide to use is humming the song "Staying Alive" by the BeeGees) and directing someone to call 9-1-1 and bring you an AED.
Before beginning, be sure to shake the person and loudly ask if they can hear you. You don’t want to start compressions on someone who is merely taking a nap in the park.
It really quite easy to use an AED. A voice talks you through the procedure, actually does a diagnosis on the patient you have placed the electrical pads on, and informs you whether or not you need to press the button to shock him in order to save his life. Sometimes a shock is not necessary and the AED will instruct you to continue with compressions.
They may be used on an adult, a teenager, a child and even an infant. An AED is used on anyone who is not breathing, not conscious or has no pulse. They may be used on someone with a Pacemaker, just avoid putting a pad on that area of their body. There are no limits to the number of fibulations that can be done.
For your own protection, there is a "Good Samaritan Law” that protects you from lawsuits when trying to help someone. There is also an AED law that protects an AED user.
Once the patient you saved is taken to the hospital, the information can be removed from the AED and sent to the Emergency Room so the doctors and nurses can see the history.
Where can I find an AED? Of course the paramedics have them and every Coronado police officer has one in the trunk of their vehicle. But where else can I find one?
Coronado Fire Department
Coronado Police Department
Coronado Golf Course
The Tennis Center
City Hall
Coronado Recreation Center
Coronado Public Library
The Senior Center
Coronado Public Services
Loews Coronado Bay Resort
Hotel Del Coronado
The Marriott
The Shores
The school district has their own program through San Diego Project Heart Beat.
I hope that you never find yourself in this situation, but if you do you will know where to go to get an AED to save someone's life.
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