Ventnor Middle School representative Jeff Garbutt of Northfield presents a check on behalf of the teacher’s union to Pat McCarthy, an AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Heart Hero volunteer with Rose Marie McCarthy, cardiology outreach coordinator and Ventnor City Education Association Vice President Matt Garbutt of Ocean City.

The Heart Heroes organization at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center (ARMC) gave two automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that will treat victims of sudden cardiac arrest to the Ventnor Educational Community Complex.

The volunteer organization raises money to place AEDs in the community in conjunction with the Heart Institute at ARMC and the AtlantiCare Foundation. According to Ms. Rose Marie McCarthy, 95 AEDs have been donated to date by the Heart Heroes organization.

“AtlantiCare’s Heart Heroes program demonstrates the importance of a local hospitals involvement in combating sudden cardiac arrest. The program raises awareness for the necessity of public access defibrillators while providing much needed funding to support purchase of the life-saving devices,” stated Mark Peters, Cardiac Science AED Certified Specialist for New Jersey, New York City and Long Island.

Click here for more.

AEDs have been deployed throughout the campus, but none were available in student housing. The ESU Assistant Chief and Health & Safety Specialist, Jim Flannery, along with Robert Moses, Director of Resident Life and Housing, and David Campbell, Associate Director of Resident Life and Housing, have praised ITA’s hard work to raise money and push the need for AEDs.

David Campbell, Robert Moses and members of Iota Tau Alpha Athletic Training Honor Society featured with a Powerheart AED G3. Photo Courtesy / Jordan Dorrien

“It is an honor to work with the students at ESU who are dedicated to making their campus heart safe with AEDs in every building! Their support brings the total to 52 AEDs on campus! It is inspiring and I know the domino effect will roll across the state and country showing what a small group of future Athletic Trainers can do for their college,” said Rachel Moyer, President of the Gregory W. Moyer Foundation.

The AEDs are expected to be installed in every dormitory building by this summer, and ITA officers will provide assistance in maintaining the devices.

Click here to read more.
Learn more about the Gregory W. Moyer Foundation.

Pictured, from left, are Jennifer D’Onofrio, representing the Fairfield Medical Alliance; Kimberly Murray, Executive Director of AHA!; Pam Brant, AHA! Advantage teacher; and Jennifer Dicken, instructor from the Snider Cardiovascular Institute. Photo: www.lancastereaglegazette.com

AHA! Executive Director Kimberly Murray said the museum is grateful to the Fairfield Medical Alliance for giving them the equipment. “Now we feel prepared to serve our customers better, in case of an emergency, and also to teach children something new about heart health,” she said in a news release.

“We’re thrilled to know that a Powerheart G3 Plus AED is at the AHA! Children’s Museum along side the AED G3 Trainer, which does not dispense energy, is part of the healthy hearts program,” stated Troy Pflugner, Cardiac Science Senior AED Specialist.

Click here to read more.

Related Products

• Powerheart AED G3 Plus
• Powerheart AED G3 Fully Automatic and Semi-automatic
• Powerheart AED G3 Pro
• Powerheart AED G3 Trainer
• AED Program Management

New Mexico Heart Hospital donated $15,000 to the New Mexico State Police Department that will use the funds to purchase Powerheart G3 AEDs. (Photo: www.krqe.com)

According to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, State Police will first equip officers with AEDs in rural areas, where waiting time for EMTs to arrive becomes a critical factor in whether a heart attack victim lives or dies.

“As a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, I’m very proud that the Department of Public Safety and the New Mexico State Police have approximately 220 automated external defibrillators deployed across the state. This helps keep every New Mexican safer from sudden cardiac arrest, the number one cause of death in the United States. Cardiac Science is proud to play a part in this along with our partners EMS Aspects and The Heart Hospital of New Mexico Foundation,” stated Laurence Saban, Regional Sales Manager of Cardiac Science.

Click here to view news coverage from KRQE.com

There’s no legal requirement in the UK for fitness clubs to have automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on the premises. But the health and safety experts at David Lloyd Leisure insist on having AEDs readily accessible at every one of their busy clubs. This policy, along with staff training in AED use, has made a world of difference. Since 1999, David Lloyd Leisure has saved more than 100 lives.

“Our feeling is every fitness facility should have an AED, even if there’s no legal requirement,” says Caleb Brown, of the health and safety office at David Lloyd Leisure. “AEDs have become so affordable, and the response element is something which is really easy for a health club to do — they’ve already got team members available.”

One of Europe’s largest health and fitness businesses, David Lloyd Leisure started its AED program in 1998. At first, this simply meant ensuring that the reception desk at every facility had a defibrillator at hand.

A staff member from David Lloyd Leisure Brooklands with their Powerheart AED. Staff at the club used the AED to revive a member in 2010.

The return on investment in terms of lives saved was immediate, and the company nurtured the AED program. Brown, who joined the company in 2000, has been involved in the development of the company’s AED training program as part of overall safety training. Today, an AED is brought immediately to the scene of any health incident at one of the clubs.

While the survival rate for people who suffer outside-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest in the United Kingdom is less than 20 percent, the survival rate for someone who suffers cardiac arrest or another serious health incident at one of the David Lloyd Leisure clubs reached 88 percent in 2012.

How They Chose Powerheart AEDs

All David Lloyd Leisure clubs are equipped with at least one AED, and one large, six-story site has two defibrillators on the premises. All the AEDs — with the exception of devices at clubs recently acquired from other companies — are Cardiac Science Powerheart AED G3s. The Powerheart AEDs were chosen because they’re highly portable and easy to use, with long-lasting medical-grade batteries and Rescue-Ready technology that conducts an automatic self-check of the main components (battery, hardware, software, and pads) every day. When it’s nearing time to replace a battery, a Rescue Ready indicator on the AED turns red and sounds an alert.

“The Powerhearts are so easy to look after, and the maintenance system is brilliant,” Brown says.

In the aftermath of any incident in which an AED was required, the club replaces the used pads with a set of spares. Brown, or one of his health and safety team colleagues, then visits the club to download data from the AED for hospital use, write up an incident report, and supply a new set of spare pads.

Training: Key to a Successful AED Program

Brown, who took on a leadership role in the AED program in 2006, has designed training for club employees that enables them to respond with maximum speed and efficiency when a cardiac incident occurs.

“Because of the voice prompts, even an untrained bystander can use an AED,” Brown points out. “With a training program, you give people the ability to react faster in an event, which is going to increase chances of survival.”

Ambulance response time in urban areas in the UK is usually under 8 minutes, Brown noted, but for a sudden cardiac arrest victim that is often too late. Brown’s goal has been to train David Lloyd Leisure staff to get the AED to the victim, and the defibrillator pads on the victim’s chest, within 1 minute.

Once the pads are attached, the AED can diagnose the heart rhythm, and, if appropriate, administer a shock. The AED’s voice prompts coach the team through every step of the process, including administering CPR. The AEDs are programmed in accordance with the latest resuscitation guidelines, and David Lloyd Leisure bases its training on those same guidelines.

“I believe that some businesses overestimate the amount of training that is required for a successful AED program,” Brown says. “Our training is only two hours for an employee, once a year. With just that basic training, in the vast majority of incidents requiring an AED, we are able to get the pads onto the chest in less than a minute.”

In 2012, the company’s survival rate for incidents in which an AED was deployed reached 88 percent.

Case Study: Saving a Life at the Health Club

“I would not be alive now had it not been for the quick intervention of Paul, Laura,and others and their ability to resuscitate me,” a 45-year-old businessman wrote in a letter to David Lloyd Leisure. “I have been advised by doctors that if I had been anywhere else, in particularly where there was no defibrillator, I would not have survived.”

The man had collapsed while using a rowing machine at the North London club. Bystanders alerted the club’s team straightaway, and one of the team immediately started CPR. The AED was brought to the area and the pads put on immediately. The AED diagnosed a shockable heart rhythm and it administered one shock.

“By the time the ambulance crew arrived, the man was breathing and talking,” Caleb Brown, part of the company’s health and safety team, said. “He went on to make a complete recovery, went back to work, and he’s back at the club.”

Two members of the David Lloyd Leisure staff were directly involved in the rescue. One delivered CPR and the other used the AED. A half dozen others assisted, clearing members from the area and making sure there was access for the ambulance crew.

“The training I received in using the AED enabled me to use the AED with confidence and the clear voice prompts helped to keep me calm,” one of the rescuers reported after the incident. “It’s an amazing feeling to know that the actions I took resulted in a life being saved.”

Related Products

• Powerheart AED G3 Plus
• Powerheart AED G3 Fully Automatic and Semi-automatic
• Powerheart AED G3 Pro
• Powerheart AED G3 Trainer
• AED Program Management

Mark Peters of Cardiac Science, John Mallard, Jr., Russell Childress, and Terrance Lyman at the Heroes Among Us ceremony at the USPS Trenton Processing and Distribution Center.

This past September, Russell Childress had experienced sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) at the facility. He was quickly tended by co-workers John and Terrance who performed CPR and used a Powerheart^® AED that saved Russell’s life.

John and Terrance were awarded lapel buttons and plaques for their quick action and heroic efforts. The USPS also presented the Trenton facility with a special recognition for having implemented and maintained the AED program. Local media, US House of Representatives and USPS employees were all in attendance, cheering on the plant for implementing the life-saving program.

Cardiac Science Certified AED Specialist and SCA survivor, Mark Peters, also spoke at the Heroes Among Us ceremony and praised the facility for maintaining the AED program. Click here to view photos of the event.

The anniversary recognizes the company’s impact for over a century in providing clinicians with effective tools to identify and treat heart disease, assess results and help improve public health. Notable milestones include inventing the first automated external defibrillator (AED) that was fully automatic, the single-channel interpretive electrocardiogram (ECG), and the first modern stress test. These life-saving products are now in schools, military installations, hospitals, and doctors’ offices worldwide.

Proclamation from Wis. Gov. Scott Walker marking today as “Cardiac Science Day” throughout the state of Wisconsin.

The year-long celebration, which commemorates the company’s founding in 1913 in Milton, Wis., will also honor the people who have allowed the company to flourish.

“Very few companies reach their 100-year anniversary, especially one that has taken many risks to remain at the forefront of innovation,” said Neal Long, CEO and President of Cardiac Science. “This anniversary is a testament to the employees, customers and distributors who’ve remained loyal to Cardiac Science throughout our 100 years of existence.”

The company has also launched the Cardiac Science at 100 website that provides visitors with historic images, ads, user-submitted content and an interactive timeline. As part of the anniversary celebration, customers who still own vintage Burdick and Quinton products are asked to submit pictures of these pieces of equipment. Visit www.cardiacscience100.com to learn more about this contest, product promotions and other anniversary events throughout the year.

On average calling 911 up to the first shock administered to the patient is 9 minutes. Purchasing an AED is the first step to save a life, but it’s important to have a proper AED training program in place.

Cardiac Science partnership with ServiceSource has expanded the reach of education and training programs. The partnership has doubled the renewal rates for these programs that will provide the tools for many people with life saving skills.

The grant program helps provide AEDs to police and fire first responders; who are often first on scene ahead of EMS. Statistics indicate that approximately 365,000 people in the US are victims of sudden cardiac arrest each year, and defibrillation within 3 minutes increases the chance of victim survival by 70 percent.  Having more AEDs in the hands of police and fire first responders will help save lives.

Each of the AED grant recipients were recently notified of their award and shared their inspiring stories of how their new Powerheart^® AED will help in each of their own communities.

Capt. Greg Yeager of Artista Fire, Pa., a recipient of the award, mentioned one of their members had collapsed and succumbed to their condition during a fundraising breakfast outing in 2003. Members initiated care but were on their own without an AED until an official EMS response arrived about 15 minutes later. After that loss, the department initiated an AED program under the member’s name. They collected money, got a grant and bought their first AED, but it now needs replacement so this will be their second but only AED.

“We want to thank Firehouse, Firehouse.com and Cardiac Science for offering this [AED] – we know it’s not a small expense,” Yeager said. “You could never put a price tag on what it can do.”

Related Products

• Powerheart AED G3 Plus
• Powerheart AED G3 Fully Automatic and Semi-automatic
• Powerheart AED G3 Pro
• Powerheart AED G3 Trainer
• AED Program Management

“I can’t say enough to thank the people, and thank the organizations and the efforts of many individuals who stepped forward and to make sure that these units were purchased,” Vermillion County Sheriff, Bob Spence said. In addition, the local hospital contributed to help train the department on how to use the AEDs.

Vermillion Co. Sheriff’s Dept using AEDs

For more information about our AED program, please contact Cardiac Science AED Certified Specialist, Troy Pflugner.