Automated External Defibrillator in the Workplace

The implementation of early defibrillation programs in the workplace would put automated external defibrillators (AED's) in locations where trained responders could use them to quickly treat victims of sudden cardiac arrest.

ZOLL's AED Plus is the only AED in the market today that:

• Helps rescuers through the entire resuscitation process with voice, visual, & text messages
• Uses a unified electrode pad that guarantees accurate pad placement
• Supports CPR effectiveness by measuring compression and depth rate - prompts rescuer to push harder if necessary
• Uses consumer batteries (Lithium 123A)
• Integrates important CPR skills to help rescuer through all aspects of a rescue

Automated External Defibrillators Can Save Lives During Cardiac Emergencies

Automated External Defibrillators (AED's) improve survival after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Their presence reduces the critical time for treatment. Less time to defibrillation improves victims' chances of survival. Having the devices appropriately located in a business or workplace improves the survivability of people experiencing a cardiac crisis.

Developing a Workplace AED Program

Sudden cardiac arrest is usually caused by ventricular fibrillation (a seizure that stops the heart, makes it quiver erratically, and prevents it from pumping oxygen-rich blood throughout the body). Unlike a heart attack, ventricular fibrillation usually strikes without warning and leads to unconsciousness. If not reversed quickly, it is usually fatal. The only way to reverse ventricular fibrillation is defibrillation (an electric shock that jolts the heart back to a normal rhythm). Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) now make this kind of life-saving shock a real possibility in every workplace. Some researchers believe defibrillation could revive more than 90% of victims. According to the American Heart Association, survival rates decrease from 7 to 10 percent for every minute defibrillation is delayed. After 10 minutes, resuscitation attempts are usually futile.

To save 90% of Sudden Cardiac Arrest victims, a workplace needs to provide victims with a defibrillating shock within 1 to 2 minutes. That means most workplaces can't wait for an ambulance. The only proactive way to manage the risk of sudden cardiac arrest is to establish a workplace AED program, train potential rescuers on the use of AEDs, and provide easy and immediate access to AEDs. Before implementing a workplace AED program, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine recommends that employers:

• Learn and comply with state and federal regulations
• Establish a centralized management system
• Arrange medical direction and control
• Develop a written program description for each location
• Coordinate plans with local emergency medical services
• Establish an AED quality assurance program
• Integrate the AED plan within an overall emergency response plan

Why should employers make Automated External Defibrillators available to employees?

• There are 300,000-400,000 deaths per year in the United States from cardiac arrest.
• Most cardiac arrest deaths occur outside the hospital. Current out-of-hospital survival rates are 1 to 5 percent.
• In 1999 and 2000, 815 of 6,339 workplace fatalities reported to OSHA were caused by cardiac arrest.
• Jobs with shift work, high stress, and exposure to certain chemicals and electrical hazards increase the risks of heart disease and cardiac arrest.

What causes cardiac arrest, and how does an AED improve survivability?

• Abnormal heart rhythms, with ventricular fibrillation (VF) being the most common, cause cardiac arrest.
• Treatment of VF with immediate electronic defibrillation can increase survival to more than 90 percent.
• According to the American Heart Association, survival rates decrease from 7 to 10 percent for every minute defibrillation is delayed. After 10 minutes, resuscitation attempts are usually futile.