Wednesday, December 31, 2003
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Wednesday, December 31, 2003 |
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County delivers AEDs to buildings, athletic fields By JOHN MUNFORD They say one of the best places to go into cardiac arrest is a hospital. Soon you may be able to say the same thing about the county-owned buildings and ballfields. Fayette County has purchased 35 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) which will be placed in strategic locations in February after many employees and volunteer coaches are trained in their use, officials said. The delay is due to the extensive amount of training required by federal guidelines, officials said. The AED is considered a medical device and is regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration. The defibrillators, which cost $2,000 each, are used on unconscious patients who have stopped breathing or showing other signs of life. The yellow box contains a diagram showing where to place the “leads” on the patient’s chest; the computer does the rest, with a voice telling whether or not the patient should be shocked and giving a warning to stand clear and press a button to deliver the shock if necessary. The AEDs also come with rubber gloves and a breathing barrier to protect a good Samaritan coming to the aid of the victim. With a special set of “leads,” the AEDs ordered by the county can also be used on children as young as 3 in some cases. Many of the AEDs will be available in set locations in county buildings such as the Stonewall office complex, water treatment plants and even the county’s 911 center itself. At heavily-populated recreation areas, one person will be assigned to carry the AED, wearing a special vest and carrying a cellphone to help speed response. A similar procedure will be worked out with school officials to make AEDs readily available for athletic events and special events such as graduation, McCullough noted. Fayette Community Hospital recently donated AEDs to Starr’s Mill, McIntosh, Sandy Creek and Whitewater high schools; Fayette County High already had an AED on campus. Officials see the AEDs as a way of improving a person’s survival rate from cardiac arrest. Fayette County’s survival rate is one of the highest in the nation currently, said Deputy Chief Allen McCullough of the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. “We’ve been as high as 25 to 30 percent,” McCullough said. “We hope the survival rate increases as much as 10-15 percent with these AEDs.” When it comes to treating a patient in cardiac arrest, every six seconds that pass by without treatment such as CPR or an AED decreases the patient’s survivability rate by 1 percent, McCullough said. This is the third phase of a program designed to make AEDs more accessible to improve cardiac arrest survival rates, McCullough said. The first phase put AEDs on all county fire trucks; the second phase put them in law enforcement patrol cars in Fayette County, Tyrone, Peachtree City and Fayetteville, since they are sometimes on the scene of a medical emergency before a medic crew can arrive. Cindy Melton, a communications supervisor at the Fayette County 911 center, said she worked a call previously when a Tyrone police officer used an AED to help a patient. At a later date, emergency operators at Fayette County’s 911 center will be able to talk callers through the steps of using the AEDs; this can come in handy when those trying to help out become scared and/or nervous, officials said. They will also be able to direct callers to where the AEDs are located in buildings. Employees of Fayette County’s recreation department have been trained on the AED so they can train others to use the device, McCullough said. The AEDs purchased by the county are compatible with the cardiac monitoring devices used on all county ambulances. That means when the medics arrive, the leads can stay attached to the patient since they are unplugged from the AED and plugged into the cardiac monitor. With other AEDs, medics must place new leads to monitor the patient’s cardiac status. Information about the incident can also be downloaded from the AED to a computer for further study after the event, officials said. Officials are encouraging private businesses and churches to purchase AEDs and the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services offers free training for those who do so. Peachtree City United Methodist has already purchased and implemented an AED at its location and the Fayetteville First United Methodist Church is purchasing one in the near future. McCullough said he also hopes other cities in Fayette work on securing AEDs in public buildings. Peachtree City, for example, has an AED at City Hall.
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