Emergency medical situations can happen anytime and anywhere. When such scenarios happen, it is important that the people around are knowledgeable about the things that can be done to help the victim in surviving. One of the emergency medical situations that require a person to be very knowledgeable about is when sudden cardiac arrest happens. SCA is the stoppage of the normal blood circulation by a person and this is due to the failure of the heart to contract effectively.
Most SCA situations are caused by abnormal heart rhythms known as arrhythmias. One of the most common arrhythmia is called ventricular fibrillation. In ventricular fibrillation, the electrical impulses of the heart become chaotic and ineffective. When this happens, the blood flowing in the brain suddenly stops and this would be followed by a person collapsing and losing his consciousness.
In case that a person suffers from SCA, one of the emergency measures that can be done is through the use of automated external defibrillator or AED. It is important that this is provided to a person as soon as the situation occurred, since any minute wasted without AED would reduce the likelihood of survival by at least seven to ten percent. In line with this, authorities wants different establishments, whether private or public, to establish an AED program management so as to increase the survival rate of victims of sudden cardiac arrest. Among the authorities who want proper AED program management is the American Heart Association, which also released a data stating that at least 250,000 Americans died of SCA before reaching the hospital.
In order to have a successful implementation of an AED program, there must be a reliable AED medical oversight, which is a licensed medical professional that looks at the entire program. Among the functions of an AED medical oversight are overseeing medical control, program development, and implementation.
Aside from making a directive that all establishments have proper AED programs, AHA also provides Heartsaver AED Courses for those who want to be really knowledgeable about its usage. The importance of this training is that a person would be able to learn how to properly respond in using AED. Speaking of the courses provided by AHA, it is a combination of hands-on and scenario-based AED instructions together with adult CPR trainings.
According to AHA, there are at least four key elements for a successful AED program. The first element is that there is a medical professional handling of the entire program. The second element is notifying the emergency medical services agency. The third and fourth elements are selecting, placing and maintaining AEDs, and training respectively.
For companies looking for a good provider of AED programs, one name to trust is Citywide CPR, Inc. The company serves as a national training site of the AHA and other related agencies. Citywide CPR is based in Chicagoland/Metropolitan area but it can be located in several locations across the United States.
For more information about AED medical oversight and AED program management, please visit our website.
