HeartSine Technologies provides you with the latest innovations in cardiac defibrillation technology for lay rescuers. Or, to put it more simply, to introduce you to the new automated external defibrillator, the Samaritan AED. Drawing on over 35 years of internationally recognized clinical expertise, HeartSine has designed the Samaritan AED specifically for the minimally trained first responder, making it the perfect AED for the school setting.

You may ask, why do we need AEDs in our schools? The answer is, because an increasing number of the sudden cardiac arrests (SCAs) that occur every year are happening to children and young athletes. If you think that it'll never happen to your child, or in your child's school, you should be aware of the statistics, which are startling.

Approximately 225,000 people die each year from SCA. A 1996 article in Circulation, the research journal published by the American Heart Association, reported that approximately one of every 100,000 to 300,000 high school athletes die from SCA every year.

The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates that the survival rate for SCA is a dismal two to five percent if defibrillation (the only definitive treatment for SCA) is not provided within the first 10 minutes after collapse. Furthermore, the AHA states that survival is directly linked to the amount of time between the onset of SCA and defibrillation.

When the heart isn't pumping, the body starves for oxygen. Every cell and every organ is affected. Each minute that passes reduces the chance of survival by 10%. In as little as four minutes, brain damage can begin. So you can see that even the best of professional emergency response times may still be too long to save a person struck down by sudden cardiac arrest.