Here's what every community needs to know in order to save lives of youth athletes, coaches, officials or spectators in the stands in sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) :
- SCA kills at least 350,000 people in the United States each year, more people than all forms of cancer combined.
- Without proper treatment an SCA victim is virtually certain to die, often within minutes.
- Because CPR is not, by itself, an effective treatment for the arrhythmia that causes SCA, prompt CPR is not enough by itself: the survival rate for victims in SCA treated by CPR alone is between 2 to 5%.
- A community which has implemented a strong cardiac chain of survival (recognizing a cardiac emergency and calling 911 , early CPR , early defibrillation , and early advanced cardiac life support can dramatically increase the survival rate for SCA victims, saving as many as one-third to one-half of victims with treatable heart arrhythmia
- The most critical link in the cardiac chain of survival is early defibrillation with an Automatic External Defibrillator . Each minute that defibrillation is delayed reduces the victim's chance of survival by about 10 percent.
- AEDs are relatively inexpensive, simple to use and virtually foolproof.
- AEDs require minimal training (courses take only two and four hours), and established training programs, such as those sponsored by your local chapters of the American Heart Association , American Red Cross and National Safety Council , are available in or near your community.
- While the use of AEDs are subject to state law , all fifty states now have Good Samaritan laws that help protect laypersons from liability for attempting a rescue of an SCA victim and using an AED, the liability risk is lowest for communities and organizations that implement comprehensive AED programs .
- Implementing an AED program requires a team of committed people drawn from diverse groups within the community to create public awareness and support.
- Funding an AED program may be easier than you think.
Links:
[1] https://www.momsteam.com/node/371
[2] https://www.momsteam.com/node/354
[3] https://www.momsteam.com/node/388
[4] https://www.momsteam.com/node/387
[5] https://www.momsteam.com/node/385
[6] https://www.momsteam.com/node/300
[7] https://www.momsteam.com/node/384
[8] http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3012360
[9] http://www.redcross.org/where/where.html
[10] http://www.nsc.org/trainemerg/coursepages/aed.cfm
[11] https://www.momsteam.com/alpha/features/cardiac_awareness_center/good_samaritan_laws.shtml
[12] https://www.momsteam.com/node/359
[13] https://www.momsteam.com/node/349
[14] https://www.momsteam.com/node/350