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Originally Posted by Villages PL
Sounds good, how many lives have you saved so far with your neighborhood AED? How many lives have been saved in all of The Villages since the program began? Is there any follow up to see what the survival rate is? I would think that could be important to determine the effectiveness of the program. For example, there must be some study showing a comparison between simple chest compressions and the use of AEDs.
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Now I think you're asking the right questions. I believe that there has been some misunderstanding all along about Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). SCA is an electrical problem that causes the heart to go into ventricular fibrillation. A heart attack is more of a "plumbing" issue. Sometimes, a heart attack can cause SCA. People who have heart disease are at a higher risk for SCA, but SCA often strikes people with no risk factors and who are healthy.
The only treatment that will restore a normal heart rhythm is defibrillation. Studies show that defibrillation within 3 minutes has a 70% chance of survival. For every minute after that, survival rates drop 7% to 10%. After 10 minutes, the chances for survival are just about zero. So, while I cannot give you a number for the amount of lives an AED saves, you can see that quick use of one certainly increases the chances of survival.
You also asked if CPR would do the same thing. CPR can help, but only by keeping the patient alive until defibrillation can occur. As you can deduce, it is much better to defibrillate immediately than to "tread water" and then defibrillate. CPR only buys a little time!
The American Red Cross and The American Heart Association strongly urge that all public areas, offices, schools, MD offices, shopping malls, airports, etc. have AED's and that all police and fire and rescue vehicles be equipped with them.
Some causes of SCA are congestive heart failure, aortic stenosis, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, sarcoidosis, amyloidosis, infections, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, Marfan syndrome and other structural problems, pulmonary embolism, blood clots due to surgery, prolonged immobilization like long car trips, plane trips, hospitalization, trauma, or certain diseases like cancer. Also, potassium and calcium imbalances. Also, trauma to the chest like getting hit with a golf ball or softball.
I think this answers most of your questions. The survival numbers I have given are national and I am assuming they would be similar in The Villages. I could not find any statistics just for our community. Please note that I have only given reasons for SCA in adults. There are a number of reasons why this occurs in children and teenagers, and when it does it occurs without warning and to otherwise healthy kids. I would think the program would warrant support just for the slight chance we could save the life of someones grandchild.
Lastly, I would just like to comment on what appears to be your main reason for not supporting the program. You have said that you feel the program gives people a false sense of security. Since we are dealing in "feelings", it is my feeling that not one person ever thought to him or herself that it's ok to go have a cheeseburger and fries because when I go into sudden cardiac arrest or have a heart attack, and I am close to an AED, and everything works perfectly with the alert system, there is a 70% chance that I will survive. People do not have a false sense of security because of AED's, and in fact they don't even think about them during their day to day routine.