Cardiac Safety

There are ten things a community should know to prevent sudden cardiac death, which kills an estimated 350,000 people in the United States each year, more than all forms of cancer.

Medical directors of AED programs perform a variety of important functions: picking the right AED to purchase, writing the prescription (one is needed for most AEDs), supervising training, developing the rescue protocol,

AED programs need "champions" to be successful: a parent that has lost a child to sudden cardiac arrest, an employee with a congenital heart. condition, a volunteer fire fighter or EMT who knows first-hand that AEDs save lives, or someone who is just simply passionate about the need for an AED program. A champion is the person a committee needs to convince everyone that they really should get on board. She is the one who keeps on pushing when the odds seem to be stacked against the AED program ever happening.

When it comes to cardiac safety in sports, there are a variety of terms parents should know.

A primary goal of nearly every committee setting up and implementing an AED program is, obviously, to obtain the funding necessary to pay the estimated costs of your AED program. The simplest approach to funding - direct funding by your municipality, a government agency, or by the state (e.g., state department of public health, school department budget), or through a government grant - may be all that is needed, particularly if you are seeking to start a Community Access Defibrillation Program (CAD) serving your entire community, or a significant segment, such as the public schools.

Starting an AED program, whether it be for a youth sports program, school, business or organization, doesn't take place in a vacuum. It requires a commitment and input from experts, widespread public support, and a committee comprised of people willing to work hard to make it a reality. In order to gain broad-based community support, the committee should be comprised of "movers and shakers" in the community, bringing to the committee different talents and perspectives, and representing different constituencies within your community.

Once an AED committee is formed it needs to develop a mission statement which will not only help the committee stay focused by constantly reminding its members of its purpose and goals, but, by clearly stating that purpose and goals to the larger community, will help generate the broad-based community and political support an effective AED program requires. In addtion, the committee needs to draft a Statement of Need which the committee will use both as part of its checklist in developing and implementing its AED program and as a stand-alone document in its public awareness and funding campaigns.

Commotio Cordis is a rare disruption of the heart's electrical system resulting from a blunt impact to the chest that leads to sudden cardiac arrest. It has been documented in over 250 cases since 1998, and occurs most often in lacrosse, with the most recent incident involving a 12-year-old boy who tragically died in Rochester, New York after being hit in the chest with a ball.

An AED program consists of much more than buying an AED and making it accessible. A good program has widespread support, both internal (within your club, school, organization or business), and external (in the lay, medical and EMS communities) and is based on sound principles and careful planning.

Of the many variables that affect survivability for a person who experiences sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), one of the most important is how rapidly the AED is physically delivered to the victim's side. Indeed, few life threatening emergencies are as time sensitive as SCA. AEDs should be located within a 2-minute brisk walk of every nook and cranny of a school or to the farthest reaches of an athletic field.