Every year over 350,000 people alone in the US suffer from SCA otherwise known as sudden cardiac arrest. Many think what can i do? It will never happen to me, I am not an EMT or a doctor there is nothing I can do!
The truth is 34% of SCA happens at work! hard to believe? not really think about some of your worst days at work, it is very possible and the truth is you may not be able to prevent SCA from happening but you most definately can change the outcome with the right tools and training. But you may say what is available to use in my place of work. The answer is an AED or also call a defibrillator, they are small easy to use and if more were used it could potentially cut SCA deaths by 40% experts say.
Aeds have been on the market for years and have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, The technology has come so far as to tell you proper placement of the pads when to shock and even how to perform CPR.
SCA does not just impact the overweight 40 something smoker it can be caused by electrical shock and even children suffer SCA thats why if you look as you walk through a school almost everyone of them has AED's through out the campus.
In previous job as a safety manager for a large manufacturing company I was responsible for overseeing and making sure we were OSHA compliant, Osha does not have a specific regulation stating you must have an AED in your business but they really encourage them. AEDs are very inexpensive because who can put a price on a human life but to put it to the manager or company owner who has to see what dollar value is behind it, here you go. If an employee suffers SCA and it is fatal is it work related? Any time there is a fatality in the workplace it is your responsability to contact osha in so many hours and then they will come to your location and perform an investigation and make a determination whether it was work related or not. For all of you managers and safety proffesionals out there you know that when they arrive it will disrupt the work environment and they will most likely find other concerns that you were not aware of that could result in hundreds of thousands dollars of fines.
The short of this article is to inform people of the importance and to inform business leaders and owners that AED's are essential and a very inexpensive tool to own in your workplace.
Next time your walking through your facility count all the fire extinguishers you pass by and see if you can visibly see an AED! If there were half as many AED's in the world as fire extinguishers the work place would be a much safer place.
You can have the power to save a life and make an impact on So many people you do not even know by making the decision to have an early defibrillation program in your place of business.
When you finally decide to purchase an AED or look for information on one it is critical to know what do you need in an aed package and what laws you may have in your state, city, or county. Look for someone who is knowledgable about AEDs and also Workplace rules such as Hot Box LLC who has years of experience in safety and also as an EMT.