AED Devices in Neighborhood?

[carol_piirto]

Does your neighborhood have an AED device? Has anyone ever had the opportunity to use it and save a life? What do you think about it? Is it something that we'll actually use, that we'll even be able to get to the emergency before the EMTs?! ( I question that)
Anyway, I wonder what your experience has taught you.
Many many thanks

Carol 352-633-0326 H
352-446-0149C

carol_piirto@hotmail.com

[sunnyatlast]

Our neighborhood organized and runs its voluntary program with neighbors trained by fire department. It coordinates with 911 dispatchers and an outside contractor handles dispatch of neighbor-responders. There are costs involved in the dispatch service and there are costs of maintaining the AED machines, batteries, etc.

It's well worth it to raise money voluntarily as a group to do this. Fire dept. paramedics can easily be out on other calls when your neighbor has a cardiac arrest, and a neighbor responder can be at his/her house in 2 minutes, and it might take much longer for ambulance to arrive.

Best testimonial of AED training and equipment on hand is this, reported in the newer online Villages dot com newspaper, titled "Villages Public Safety Captain works ‘Sunday miracle’ at church".

[bwahrend]

I have used them before. They are easy to use and they save lives. They have voice commands that are easy to follow and the machines are basically automatic. Time is of the essence.

[Bizdoc]

Given the demographics of TV, it is cheap insurance. As to how fast will people respond, the more people who are trained and willing to save a life, the closer they are likely to be to you. Hopefully, you will take the training and be willing to save a life. From my understanding, the average time for EMTs to arrive is around 5 minutes. If you have someone in your block, it will be under 3 minutes. Those 2 minutes make a huge difference.

There's a reason why the survival rate for cardiac events is considerably higher in TV than the national average.

[Bogie Shooter]

Does your neighborhood have an AED device? Has anyone ever had the opportunity to use it and save a life? What do you think about it? Is it something that we'll actually use, that we'll even be able to get to the emergency before the EMTs?! ( I question that)
Anyway, I wonder what your experience has taught you.
Many many thanks

Carol 352-633-0326 H
352-446-0149C

carol_piirto@hotmail.com
List of locations. You can also call the Public Safety Department for more information on the program.

Village Community Development Districts (http://www.districtgov.org/PDFView/PDFView.aspx?path=/pdfUpload/AEDlocations.pdf&ql=publicsafety)

[njbchbum]

Is it correct to assume that once pools and rec centers close that there is no access to an AED - or are they available on the outside of a facility?

Do they not have them on some golf courses, too?

[asianthree]

For those who have actually performed CPR. On a person, it is very strenuous. But at least the guide lines do not call for mouth to mouth any more just compressions

[Mikeod]

Is it correct to assume that once pools and rec centers close that there is no access to an AED - or are they available on the outside of a facility?

Do they not have them on some golf courses, too?

No AEDs at the golf courses. Players are advised to call 911 and give their precise location on the course.

[billethkid]

It is no different than any other insurance. It is a wise investment that every village should make.
We have had ours in our village since before it was built out.
And yes it has been used. And yes in each instance it made the difference in the patients outcome.
And yes we do respond for the very very few in our village who refused to participate (donate their share....$275!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[upstate]

For those who have actually performed CPR. On a person, it is very strenuous. But at least the guide lines do not call for mouth to mouth any more just compressions
I have performed CPR many times in over forty years and yes it can be strenuous with or without a relief. Personally, to me it's a small price to pay for the possibility of assisting in saving a life.

[getdul981]

Is it correct to assume that once pools and rec centers close that there is no access to an AED - or are they available on the outside of a facility?

Do they not have them on some golf courses, too?

Our neighborhood has 4 AED's located strategically around the neighborhood. We have around 25-30 people that have taken the CPR instruction course and agreed to be responders. The reason for so many is, hopefully, some of the 25-30 will be available at any given time. You can never have too many people to assist with CPR.

[newguyintv]

List of locations. You can also call the Public Safety Department for more information on the program.

Village Community Development Districts (http://www.districtgov.org/PDFView/PDFView.aspx?path=/pdfUpload/AEDlocations.pdf&ql=publicsafety)

This is a list of Rec Centers etc. where these devices are located. It has nothing at all to do with the subject of this Thread.

[Bogie Shooter]

This is a list of Rec Centers etc. where these devices are located. It has nothing at all to do with the subject of this Thread.

I was pointing out that the AED program is very active in TV. Not only in various villages but the public places as well. I also included a link where more information could be obtained.

Was your post really necessary?

[newguyintv]

I was pointing out that the AED program is very active in TV. Not only in various villages but the public places as well. I also included a link where more information could be obtained.

Was your post really necessary?

Yes it was! We all know that there are AED's and trained Employees in all the places listed in your attachment. Yes, there have been a few success stories associated with those locations.

The point you are missing is that there is no commonality between the location of AED's and trained personal in public places and the neighborhood AED program. All I can tell you is that hundreds of thousands have been spent on the neighborhood programs and I have yet to see a single bit of corroborated evidence that any of these neighborhood devices or volunteers have been used successfully or otherwise. Granted, in general, training of many residents in CPR is very valuable and commendable and valuable.

If you can refute what I say by providing evidence of actual life saving situations directly as a result of the neighborhood programs I might reconsider my opinion. If there are any such cases that are documented they should include details about how much faster neighborhood volunteers responded than the traditional rescue teams.

Without supporting detail, I have little choice but to maintain that the neighborhood program is excessively expensive and motivated by emotion rather than facts. Lets see some facts from the neighborhood program alone, not from the few success stories that originated in public places where the use of AED's and trained personnel has been proven to make sense.

[billethkid]

Without supporting detail, I have little choice but to maintain that the neighborhood program is excessively expensive and motivated by emotion rather than facts. Lets see some facts from the neighborhood program alone, not from the few success stories that originated in public places where the use of AED's and trained personnel has been proven to make sense.

Having been a party to some of the original studies to determine if we as a village should go forward I can tell you that your statement is unequivocally WRONG. And I suspect I am reporting like wise for many other villages that decided to go forward.

You are entitled to YOUR opinion but please do not insult those of us who in fact know better.

[asianthree]

I have performed CPR many times in over forty years and yes it can be strenuous with or without a relief. Personally, to me it's a small price to pay for the possibility of assisting in saving a life.

As most who are in the health care field many of us have slapped on the pads more than you want to count. Sometimes without good results. Sometimes good. Since I have had to do CPR many times and applied shock, I can also say I have also been given CPR and had those pads used on me.

[Bogie Shooter]

Yes it was! We all know that there are AED's and trained Employees in all the places listed in your attachment. Yes, there have been a few success stories associated with those locations.

The point you are missing is that there is no commonality between the location of AED's and trained personal in public places and the neighborhood AED program. All I can tell you is that hundreds of thousands have been spent on the neighborhood programs and I have yet to see a single bit of corroborated evidence that any of these neighborhood devices or volunteers have been used successfully or otherwise. Granted, in general, training of many residents in CPR is very valuable and commendable and valuable.

If you can refute what I say by providing evidence of actual life saving situations directly as a result of the neighborhood programs I might reconsider my opinion. If there are any such cases that are documented they should include details about how much faster neighborhood volunteers responded than the traditional rescue teams.

Without supporting detail, I have little choice but to maintain that the neighborhood program is excessively expensive and motivated by emotion rather than facts. Lets see some facts from the neighborhood program alone, not from the few success stories that originated in public places where the use of AED's and trained personnel has been proven to make sense.

I made no claim as the the effectiveness of the AED program. Nor that I was an expert in its development or its record in saving lives.
You are critizing the wrong person.
Or just state your opinion without copying a post.

[newguyintv]

Having been a party to some of the original studies to determine if we as a village should go forward I can tell you that your statement is unequivocally WRONG. And I suspect I am reporting like wise for many other villages that decided to go forward.

You are entitled to YOUR opinion but please do not insult those of us who in fact know better.

I did not, nor did I have any intention of insulting anyone. I am simply asking if you have FACTS to support the value of the neighborhood program. My guess is that you do not and accordingly my contention that emotion is the deciding factor is correct.

[Mikeod]

Without supporting detail, I have little choice but to maintain that the neighborhood program is excessively expensive and motivated by emotion rather than facts. Lets see some facts from the neighborhood program alone, not from the few success stories that originated in public places where the use of AED's and trained personnel has been proven to make sense.

Excessively expensive? No. We have 64 houses in our neighborhood. The cost to buy two units with mounting hardware was less than $50 per household and part of that was because not everyone participated. Annually, we pay $15 to cover the alert service and provide a fund for replacement batteries.

Yes, the program is certainly based partly on emotion. None of the trained volunteers would be comfortable standing around unable to help one of our friends suffering a sudden cardiac event when the technology to make a great difference in their chances of survival is readily available.

I would suggest that you follow your thinking and refuse to participate in a neighborhood program. I'm sure your neighbors will respond if you need them whether you paid the "excessive" amount or not.

[dbussone]

Yes it was! We all know that there are AED's and trained Employees in all the places listed in your attachment. Yes, there have been a few success stories associated with those locations.



The point you are missing is that there is no commonality between the location of AED's and trained personal in public places and the neighborhood AED program. All I can tell you is that hundreds of thousands have been spent on the neighborhood programs and I have yet to see a single bit of corroborated evidence that any of these neighborhood devices or volunteers have been used successfully or otherwise. Granted, in general, training of many residents in CPR is very valuable and commendable and valuable.



If you can refute what I say by providing evidence of actual life saving situations directly as a result of the neighborhood programs I might reconsider my opinion. If there are any such cases that are documented they should include details about how much faster neighborhood volunteers responded than the traditional rescue teams.



Without supporting detail, I have little choice but to maintain that the neighborhood program is excessively expensive and motivated by emotion rather than facts. Lets see some facts from the neighborhood program alone, not from the few success stories that originated in public places where the use of AED's and trained personnel has been proven to make sense.


Wow! The fact of a higher survival rate has already been noted.

[Bogie Shooter]

Excessively expensive? No. We have 64 houses in our neighborhood. The cost to buy two units with mounting hardware was less than $50 per household and part of that was because not everyone participated. Annually, we pay $15 to cover the alert service and provide a fund for replacement batteries.

Yes, the program is certainly based partly on emotion. None of the trained volunteers would be comfortable standing around unable to help one of our friends suffering a sudden cardiac event when the technology to make a great difference in their chances of survival is readily available.

I would suggest that you follow your thinking and refuse to participate in a neighborhood program. I'm sure your neighbors will respond if you need them whether you paid the "excessive" amount or not.

Well stated.

[CFrance]

I did not, nor did I have any intention of insulting anyone. I am simply asking if you have FACTS to support the value of the neighborhood program. My guess is that you do not and accordingly my contention that emotion is the deciding factor is correct.
Actually, you're the one that went off topic. The OP was not asking for facts. The OP was asking for anecdotal experiences. Then njbchbm posed the question about AEDs at the rec centers, to which Bogie supplied a link.

This is the way TOTV works. And it does work.

[billethkid]

I did not, nor did I have any intention of insulting anyone. I am simply asking if you have FACTS to support the value of the neighborhood program. My guess is that you do not and accordingly my contention that emotion is the deciding factor is correct.

You may have your contention or opinion all day long......as one is entitled to such. It does not entitle one to make a personal arbitrary condition of validity.

The tenor of the posts have an all too familiar ring.

Be happy I your quest!

[dbussone]

You may have your contention or opinion all day long......as one is entitled to such. It does not entitle one to make a personal arbitrary condition of validity.



The tenor of the posts have an all too familiar ring.



Be happy I your quest!


I'm just happy my village is covered and we have enough friends who care to participate in the program. It works in hospitals and I have no doubt it works in neighborhoods.

[billethkid]

I'm just happy my village is covered and we have enough friends who care to participate in the program. It works in hospitals and I have no doubt it works in neighborhoods.

Oh I wish I could have been alert enough to think of that response:

It works in hospitals

[dbussone]

Oh I wish I could have been alert enough to think of that response:



It works in hospitals


In our neighborhood the drills have similar response times to codes called hospitals. No need to be facetious.

[dbussone]

In our neighborhood the drills have similar response times to codes called hospitals. No need to be facetious.


And I should also note the training is the same minus the use of drugs - until EMS arrives.

[graciegirl]

Yes it was! We all know that there are AED's and trained Employees in all the places listed in your attachment. Yes, there have been a few success stories associated with those locations.

The point you are missing is that there is no commonality between the location of AED's and trained personal in public places and the neighborhood AED program. All I can tell you is that hundreds of thousands have been spent on the neighborhood programs and I have yet to see a single bit of corroborated evidence that any of these neighborhood devices or volunteers have been used successfully or otherwise. Granted, in general, training of many residents in CPR is very valuable and commendable and valuable.

If you can refute what I say by providing evidence of actual life saving situations directly as a result of the neighborhood programs I might reconsider my opinion. If there are any such cases that are documented they should include details about how much faster neighborhood volunteers responded than the traditional rescue teams.

Without supporting detail, I have little choice but to maintain that the neighborhood program is excessively expensive and motivated by emotion rather than facts. Lets see some facts from the neighborhood program alone, not from the few success stories that originated in public places where the use of AED's and trained personnel has been proven to make sense.


You may be right, but you assuredly won't be the most sought after at the Holiday party if you don't kick in. Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? Those folks are who you are gonna be runnin' into at the mailbox and when you are walkin' your dog.

Plus...it is nice to know they are there. Cost is two or three couple meals out. Ya never know. You just never know. Talk about how embarrassing it would be if it saved your life and you didn't support it financially.


PLUS....don't you think the golf course conditions have improved in the last few weeks????

[dbussone]

Oh I wish I could have been alert enough to think of that response:

It works in hospitals

I think I was too quick with a response that was neither appropriate nor thoughtful. I apologize.

[zonerboy]

No offense intended, but I'm not all that sure I want any of my neighbors zapping my chest. CPR is fine, but I'd just as soon wait for the paramedics to determine if I need shocking.
There are many reasons other than a "cardiac event" that could cause a person to pass out or collapse. And even if the cause is cardiac only a few such situations are responsive to defibrillation.
Just my personal opinion.
Maybe I need to get a tattoo on my chest stating my preferences.

[Nightengale212]

No offense intended, but I'm not all that sure I want any of my neighbors zapping my chest. CPR is fine, but I'd just as soon wait for the paramedics to determine if I need shocking.
There are many reasons other than a "cardiac event" that could cause a person to pass out or collapse. And even if the cause is cardiac only a few such situations are responsive to defibrillation.
Just my personal opinion.
Maybe I need to get a tattoo on my chest stating my preferences.


I am a former ER nurse, CPR and paramedic instructor which has given me lots of experience on this topic and I am going to suggest to you before you get a NO AED tatt on your chest you may want watch a few videos on youtube to see how an AED actually works. In brief, it is the AED not the responder that determines if you are in ventricular fibrillation and the machine gives the responder voice commands to shock or not to shock. Ventricular fibrillation is the ONLY rhythm and reason which defibrillation is indicated be it determined by an AED machine or a paramedic.

Our hearts are muscles and the mechanism that causes them to pump is electrical. When someone is in ventricular fibrillation they still have electrical activity but it is chaotic and will not cause the heart to pump, but is still in a electrically receptive state for which receiving a shock can often convert the heart to an electrical rhythm that will restore pump action. The time someone is in venticular fibrillation is very brief so seconds count. If V-fib is not reversed then asystole (flat line) follows which is no electrical activity and is extremely difficult to reverse especially if a significant amount of heart muscle damage has taken place.

[buggyone]

No offense intended, but I'm not all that sure I want any of my neighbors zapping my chest. CPR is fine, but I'd just as soon wait for the paramedics to determine if I need shocking.
There are many reasons other than a "cardiac event" that could cause a person to pass out or collapse. And even if the cause is cardiac only a few such situations are responsive to defibrillation.
Just my personal opinion.
Maybe I need to get a tattoo on my chest stating my preferences.

I suggest you take one of the free CPR AED classes. It gives all the information you need in order to properly use the A E D. You will find out that the device will not shock unless it deems it necessary. It will only shock if no heartbeat is present. You can be passed out and have a heartbeat and the device will not shock but will tell the responder to continue CPR. Excellent class and in an active senior community, it is good to have as many people as possible trained.

[newguyintv]

You may be right, but you assuredly won't be the most sought after at the Holiday party if you don't kick in. Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? Those folks are who you are gonna be runnin' into at the mailbox and when you are walkin' your dog.

Plus...it is nice to know they are there. Cost is two or three couple meals out. Ya never know. You just never know. Talk about how embarrassing it would be if it saved your life and you didn't support it financially.


PLUS....don't you think the golf course conditions have improved in the last few weeks????

Thanks for the lecture. Haven't had one of those since my Mom died almost 20 years ago. Too bad all of you have missed my point about the cost of the program. It's not the minimal amount each one of you puts up it's the cumulative cost of this program in the 100 or so Villages where it's been implemented. At about 5k per Village that's the $500,000 cost I'm talking about. Might actually be worth it if someone could just come up with several examples of when and where the neighborhood program was implemented and if it did or did not save any lives. Your post was also most informative as it implies that the names of non contributors in the neighborhoods might not be protected. If that premise is in fact incorrect I should have no problem at my next Holiday party.

[Bogie Shooter]

Do you have an alternative proposal??

[dbussone]

Thanks for the lecture. Haven't had one of those since my Mom died almost 20 years ago. Too bad all of you have missed my point about the cost of the program. It's not the minimal amount each one of you puts up it's the cumulative cost of this program in the 100 or so Villages where it's been implemented. At about 5k per Village that's the $500,000 cost I'm talking about. Might actually be worth it if someone could just come up with several examples of when and where the neighborhood program was implemented and if it did or did not save any lives. Your post was also most informative as it implies that the names of non contributors in the neighborhoods might not be protected. If that premise is in fact incorrect I should have no problem at my next Holiday party.


In our neighborhood contributors and non contributors are covered.

[graciegirl]

Thanks for the lecture. Haven't had one of those since my Mom died almost 20 years ago. Too bad all of you have missed my point about the cost of the program. It's not the minimal amount each one of you puts up it's the cumulative cost of this program in the 100 or so Villages where it's been implemented. At about 5k per Village that's the $500,000 cost I'm talking about. Might actually be worth it if someone could just come up with several examples of when and where the neighborhood program was implemented and if it did or did not save any lives. Your post was also most informative as it implies that the names of non contributors in the neighborhoods might not be protected. If that premise is in fact incorrect I should have no problem at my next Holiday party.

You're welcome.

And the golf course conditions? Do you think they are better?

[dbussone]

You're welcome.

And the golf course conditions? Do you think they are better?


They are so much better. Thank you for asking Gracie!

[DangeloInspections]

I am a former ER nurse, CPR and paramedic instructor which has given me lots of experience on this topic and I am going to suggest to you before you get a NO AED tatt on your chest you may want watch a few videos on youtube to see how an AED actually works. In brief, it is the AED not the responder that determines if you are in ventricular fibrillation and the machine gives the responder voice commands to shock or not to shock. Ventricular fibrillation is the ONLY rhythm and reason which defibrillation is indicated be it determined by an AED machine or a paramedic.

Our hearts are muscles and the mechanism that causes them to pump is electrical. When someone is in ventricular fibrillation they still have electrical activity but it is chaotic and will not cause the heart to pump, but is still in a electrically receptive state for which receiving a shock can often convert the heart to an electrical rhythm that will restore pump action. The time someone is in venticular fibrillation is very brief so seconds count. If V-fib is not reversed then asystole (flat line) follows which is no electrical activity and is extremely difficult to reverse especially if a significant amount of heart muscle damage has taken place.

Excellent post. You beat me to it. At the risk of muddying the waters I'll just add that unless they have changed things the last few years, V-fib and V-tach are the two rhythms that the AED reads and will shock. The main point you are making that folks need to realize is that the AED reads the heart rhythm and makes the call.....not the rescuer. Time is heart muscle folks, that is why the use of an AED trumps CPR and should be attached to any unresponsive person ASAP. For the record as a former career firefighter/medic/NYS EMS Instructor I have done CPR and used both automatic and manual AEDS many times with sometimes excellent outcomes. And since I'm in The Villages everyday doing inspections, if I ever go down and become unresponsive, PLEASE use the AED on me.....thank you.

[newguyintv]

You're welcome.

And the golf course conditions? Do you think they are better?

Yes until the current aeration schedule started. Now they suck again!

[newguyintv]

Do you have an alternative proposal??

Yep. Do nothing and save 1/2 million!

[buggyone]

Yep. Do nothing and save 1/2 million!


Wow! Nothing more - just WOW!

[sunnyatlast]

Yep. Do nothing and save 1/2 million!

Half a million??? No. Half a million dollars' obligatory expense billed to everybody in TV?? No.

$50 to $100 per year per household, voluntarily, in a neighborhood unit per year? YES!!!

All of which is why organizing a sustainable budget, getting training, gathering voluntary funding, and being pro-active neighbor-to-neighbor, at the grassroots level is always better than waiting for some elected officials or a developer to do it for us.

It is our choice. It's nobody else's business except our neighborhood unit.

That's why this is a great country, and an American hometown that looks out for each other!

[raynan]

Saving one life.....priceless!

[dbussone]

Saving one life.....priceless!


And saving one life could substantially lower a hospital bill that might otherwise be well north of $500k.

[asianthree]

And saving one life could substantially lower a hospital bill that might otherwise be well north of $500k.

Hospital bill will be about the same if aed was used or not..not going to skip medical treatment just because an aed was used once you get to ED and then cardiac ICU...of course if end results are cardiac death there will be minimal hospital bills.

[dbussone]

Not necessarily true. If they save heart muscle it decreases the potential

[dbussone]

Potential for open heart surgery...which is extremely expensive.

[asianthree]

Potential for open heart surgery...which is extremely expensive.

Open hearts have changed over the last 20 years. If you have blockage an aed is not going to change that, just get you a jump start. No more standing in the same spot for a 10 hour surgery. Bypass and valves can be done less invasive unless the back of the heart comes into play. it's only a few hours, or less. Been doing hearts since 1975. Great changes are still coming.

[dbussone]

Open hearts have changed over the last 20 years. If you have blockage an aed is not going to change that, just get you a jump start. No more standing in the same spot for a 10 hour surgery. Bypass and valves can be done less invasive unless the back of the heart comes into play. it's only a few hours, or less. Been doing hearts since 1975. Great changes are still coming.


That's good news. Thanks.

[Trish Crocker]

It is no different than any other insurance. It is a wise investment that every village should make.
We have had ours in our village since before it was built out.
And yes it has been used. And yes in each instance it made the difference in the patients outcome.
And yes we do respond for the very very few in our village who refused to participate (donate their share....$275!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Is that $275 per household? If so, that's lot. We have one and Steve had an additional one at his office. I think they were under $1500 each and they are good ones. Our neighbors have our garage code key in case it's ever needed.

[thelegges]

Okay just a thought as I've been reading this thread. My questions are :
is the AED being kept in the garage for easy access.
Where are the pads being kept with the AED or does each individual on the program pads at their own home.
I'm grateful that people take the time to practice runs.
My thought is and hope that the person involved called 911 first.
Then activate The AED team.
My concern is that an AED kept in a hot garage during the summer may or may not function as quickly as it should.
The pads also may become non-sticky or gooey and may not adhere to the person.
My third concern is are the AEDs being checked on a weekly basis to ensure they are working correctly.
One may find by the time the AED team is activated gets the AED goes to the home and starts to assess the person I am in hopes that the fire department will be there just as quickly. If not the AED team will be able to respond and help the party.

I have had the experience of doing CPR in a driveway in the villages. I hit my OnStar button when I got out of the car spoke quickly and thoroughly to the respondent on OnStar. In less then 2 minutes according to on star (I might add in a new village with only 3houses occupied ) I had help from the fire department. At the end of my compression round they took over

Did it make me feel good for what I did yes and another way sad that sometimes no matter how hard you try you cannot change the outcome of someone's life

[dbussone]

Is that $275 per household? If so, that's lot. We have one and Steve had an additional one at his office. I think they were under $1500 each and they are good ones. Our neighbors have our garage code key in case it's ever needed.

We have 5 distributed throughout our neighborhood. They are located outside on posts with lock boxes. Responders have keys to the locks. Our initial payment was $150, with an estimate of another $30 every 3-5 years for battery replacement. The decision to do this was made with the input of our entire neighborhood. The Public Safety department recommended locations for the units and provided instruction to volunteer responders.

By the way, I'm not sure there would be a way to eliminate those who don't pay (to be differentiated from those who don't want treatment) because the decision to send responders is made by 911.

[Mikeod]

Okay just a thought as I've been reading this thread. My questions are :
is the AED being kept in the garage for easy access.
Where are the pads being kept with the AED or does each individual on the program pads at their own home.
I'm grateful that people take the time to practice runs.
My thought is and hope that the person involved called 911 first.
Then activate The AED team.
My concern is that an AED kept in a hot garage during the summer may or may not function as quickly as it should.
The pads also may become non-sticky or gooey and may not adhere to the person.
My third concern is are the AEDs being checked on a weekly basis to ensure they are working correctly.
One may find by the time the AED team is activated gets the AED goes to the home and starts to assess the person I am in hopes that the fire department will be there just as quickly. If not the AED team will be able to respond and help the party.

I have had the experience of doing CPR in a driveway in the villages. I hit my OnStar button when I got out of the car spoke quickly and thoroughly to the respondent on OnStar. In less then 2 minutes according to on star (I might add in a new village with only 3houses occupied ) I had help from the fire department. At the end of my compression round they took over

Did it make me feel good for what I did yes and another way sad that sometimes no matter how hard you try you cannot change the outcome of someone's life
In our neighborhood, the AEDs are in a weatherproof enclosure mounted on the side of two homes and all responders have a key. We have not had any problems with pads deteriorating and the pads are inside the AED case itself.

Our training emphasizes calling 911 before starting CPR. Our system is set up so that a call to 911 from our neighborhood automatically triggers phone, cell phone, and text message to our responders so that our people are on the scene with our AEDs within a short time. In our test runs, we were at the patient several minutes before the paramedics with both AEDs and doing CPR.

Our AEDs are monitored regularly.

[Bogie Shooter]

An email to The Villages Public Safety Department, asking for statistics on the neighborhood program, resulted in this response. ( I think it is impressive that when one of the Departments within the VCCD is asked a question, a quick response is received)
______________________________________________

Currently we have over 140 AED neighborhood programs covering approximately 12,500 homes with 380 AEDs. In the 6 years of the neighborhood program, we have only had 18 call-outs, where a 911 caller reported a cardiac arrest in an AED neighborhood. we’ve had six cardiac arrest SAVES. That doesn’t sound like much (33.3%), but of the 18 call-outs, there were only 8 viable patients. In other words, there were ten patients who were not able to be saved under any circumstance. (Example: One caller reported “Send help. I think my grandfather has died.” Well, grandpa had been dead for several hours as evidenced by rigor mortis , etc. We’ve had other patients who were in similar states, even though responders were called out). But of the 8 viable patients we’ve had 6 saves for a save-rate of 75%. I think that’s pretty impressive!

You also need to look at the AED program in the Recreation Centers and softball fields. Over the years, we have had no fewer than ten saves at the rec centers, softball diamonds, and sports pools. This is attributed to early initiation of CPR and use of the AEDs. So, does The Villages AED program work? Absolutely!


Gail

Capt. Gail J. Lazenby, M.S., EMT-P

EMS Training and Quality Assurance Officer

The Villages Public Safety Department

[CFrance]

An email to The Villages Public Safety Department, asking for statistics on the neighborhood program, resulted in this response. ( I think it is impressive that when one of the Departments within the VCCD is asked a question, a quick response is received)
______________________________________________

Currently we have over 140 AED neighborhood programs covering approximately 12,500 homes with 380 AEDs. In the 6 years of the neighborhood program, we have only had 18 call-outs, where a 911 caller reported a cardiac arrest in an AED neighborhood. we’ve had six cardiac arrest SAVES. That doesn’t sound like much (33.3%), but of the 18 call-outs, there were only 8 viable patients. In other words, there were ten patients who were not able to be saved under any circumstance. (Example: One caller reported “Send help. I think my grandfather has died.” Well, grandpa had been dead for several hours as evidenced by rigor mortis , etc. We’ve had other patients who were in similar states, even though responders were called out). But of the 8 viable patients we’ve had 6 saves for a save-rate of 75%. I think that’s pretty impressive!

You also need to look at the AED program in the Recreation Centers and softball fields. Over the years, we have had no fewer than ten saves at the rec centers, softball diamonds, and sports pools. This is attributed to early initiation of CPR and use of the AEDs. So, does The Villages AED program work? Absolutely!


Gail

Capt. Gail J. Lazenby, M.S., EMT-P

EMS Training and Quality Assurance Officer

The Villages Public Safety Department
Excellent, Bogie.:eclipsee_gold_cup:

[alanmcdonald]

Is there a program in Pinellas?

We are part timers right now and won't be full timers until September 2015 but if I can contribute to my neighborhood program I want to do so, but need to know how.

[Bogie Shooter]

Is there a program in Pinellas?

We are part timers right now and won't be full timers until September 2015 but if I can contribute to my neighborhood program I want to do so, but need to know how.

Give him a call.
Capt. Gail J. Lazenby, M.S., EMT-P

EMS Training and Quality Assurance Officer

The Villages Public Safety Department

3035 Morse Boulevard

The Villages, FL 32163

Office: 352-205-8280 ~ Fax: 352-205-8290

Gail.Lazenby@districtgov.org

[Bizdoc]

Ummmm. Gail is a guy. He recently retired (despite the wishes of many to keep this much beloved man at Public Safety). Shortly before he retired, he was assisting at Mass when a member of the congregation had a heart attack. Gail used the AED he had purchased for his church to save the person's life.

He's now busy ministering to the spiritual needs of Villagers instead of their physical ones.

[sunnyatlast]

Is there a program in Pinellas?

We are part timers right now and won't be full timers until September 2015 but if I can contribute to my neighborhood program I want to do so, but need to know how.

Find out from your neighbors if a neighborhood AED program has been started. If not, you'd need a person (preferably a nurse, dr., or paramedic/EMT) to organize and meet to get neighbors involved; make contact with fire dept. about training, dispatch procedures, etc.; get neighbors trained; make a sustainable budget and develop ways of funding it thru homeowner donations, fundraiser events, raffles, or a combination of those; develop a schedule of who's on call in the neighborhood during what months, in light of snowbirds gone for summer etc.

It can be done. All neighborhoods here have people with lots of experience managing a business, volunteer corps, etc. TV is actually a goldmine of people with managerial experience and ambition to help others.

[raynan]

Our neighborhood was introduced to the program by a couple in the neighborhood, a former nurse and a former cop. They contacted Gail Lazenby and he set up how many our neighborhood would need and the locations. A voluntary contribution was set up in our neighborhood with people contributing what they thought the program was worth and kept collecting until they could afford to put the program in effect. Most people contributed $50-100. Of course this depends on how many units are in your neighborhood and how your village decides to have their socials, website or whatever means you have of keeping in contact with your whole village, part of village, certain streets etc. We are in Pennecamp but Pennecamp is broken up into at least 4 separate sections. Our section includes villas and homes and we have a social and website by which we keep in touch with what is going on in our neighborhood. It consists of 6 streets and we have 3 AED's and over 30 responders. We have had test runs and beat the fire dept each time.