Originally Posted by pooh (Post 555197)

Yesterday afternoon Dr. Godon Ewy talked about the "new" method of resuscitation being used on individuals who have sudden cardiac arrest....compressions only. A much easier, though still work, method to help those in arrest maintain oxygen to the brain. He also talked about the number of AED devices here in TV neighborhoods. At this point, there are enough in place to cover 6000 homes I believe he said....that's approximatel 12,000 individuals.
We have two AEDs on our street, we have 65 homes. The 4 other streets behind us, total of 65 homes, have their own. David Rowland was also in attendance....his life was saved by compression only CPR and the use of an AED.
They are an expense, but when neighborhood members contribute, the cost per household isn't beyond anyone's budget.

If you are unaware of this new CPR technique, here's a short video. Continuous Chest Compression CPR

Remember the life saved could be yours.

Originally Posted by billethkid (Post 555226)

Where are they kept?
People in our village volunteer a spot on their home.

Are they accessible 24/7?
Yes.

Is training available and do all residents get trained?
Yes and no. Training is given to those in our village who volunteer to be neighborhood "first responders". When 911 is dialed they are the first to be paged by the dispatch system. They can be in a nearby home within minutes prior to arrival of the ambulance. The first responders are provided pagers that are integrated into the emergency dispatch system.
There is an annual refresher course required for first responders.

Approximate cost/AED
We did ours 7 or 8 years ago and if I remember correctly it wound up being $200 to $300 per household.



I believe any of TV fire stations can lead one to whom to talk to about such a program.

btk

Originally Posted by memason (Post 555212)

Pooh... Could you explain a little about the logistics of the AED.

1. Where are they kept?
2. Are they accessible 24/7?
3. Is training available and do all residents get trained?
4. Approximate cost/AED

Sounds like a good idea to have in the neighborhood!

Thanks for the post!

Originally Posted by chuckw (Post 555231)

i have worked on the startup of several neighborhood aed programs and although all may vary somewhat in how they run, they mostly share the following:

1. Normal distribution: 1 aed to approx 30-35 homes.

2. Cost per aed: Approx $2,000

3. Contributions are received from homes within the area to be covered. (i.e.; chestnut st, or 264 - 988 main street.
A. All homes in the covered area must be included in the program, even if they do not contribute.

4. All persons in the covered area are eligible for cpr and aed training at no cost.

5. Volunteer responders are registered in an alert notification system. Only responders are given a key to the locked aed which is located on the outside of home(s) in the covered area.

6. I have attached a sample pamphlet which is now several months old, but the concepts are the same... Only the costs may be changed to protect the organizers.

7. I have a standing offer through the villages homeowner's association to work with anyone interested in starting a program, to get it rolling... Once you determine you are going ahead you will be working with captain lazenby of tv public safety... Of course, you can also start with capt lazenby if you wish.

8. Pm me if you want further information.

6. The best thing in the world that can happen is that the units are installed and never needed. But, if needed, it is comforting to know that a program is in place.

Originally Posted by pooh (Post 555232)

We have two on our street, Mike. Both are attached to the exterior of homes....one is in a locked case attached to the side of my garage, the other is down the street, in another locked case attached to the garage of another house. People have volunteered to be responders, they have the keys to the cases, and those individuals took CPR courses and learned how to use the AEDs. Actually, the AEDs tell you exactly what to do with written instructions and voice prompts. Responders were given keys to the locked boxes containing the AED's. Initially we had pagers to alert us to the need to get a move on to a cardiac arrest event on our street....once 911 is called and informed of a cardiac arrest, our pagers would go off telling where to head out to. We have since switched to an automated telephone response system. The fee is a little higher, but more accurate. Pagers were plagued with low battery problems and invalid alerts.
We had our training at the fire department, Capt. Lazenby was our instructor. You can contact him for any information you might need concerning the AED's.
Since the devices are located on the exterior of homes, they are accessible at any time. The cost, at the time we purchased, was approximately $50 to $60/household. The devices might be a bit more expensive now and you do have to pay for whatever paging system you use. We currently pay less than $15/household /year for our alert system. Figures are all approximate....I don't do the billing, one of our dear neighbors does and we haven't received our bill for this year.

One thing that was sort of funny....a few years ago, our pagers went off, alerting us to a cardiac problem at an elderly neighbor's house. Mike and I grabbed the AED, got in the golf cart and headed down the street. A total of 11 responders showed up. One of our responders knocked on the door.....no answer....she knocked once again....no answer. The men were just about ready to push open or break down the door when it slowly opened. There was our dear, elderly neighbor. Poor thing. She looked more frightened than ill... ;) 11 people with two AEDs standing at her front door. Thought she was going to need it! The pager system had issued a test, though the word test never did show up initially....and an address....so good neighbors that we all are, off we went to try and help someone in need.
(One of the reasons, this false alert, that helped sway us to a different company for paging.)

Every once in a while, the fire department will issue a test run....they place a dummy outside of someone's house, issue an alert and then watch to see how many respond, how well they perform. Our last one was on a very hot mid morning....but there was a good response and we got a good review from Capt. Lazenby.

Originally Posted by Villages PL (Post 555255)

Pooh, just as you have pointed out many times, one diet plan won't suit everyone because everyone is different. Well, this plan is not for me. One downside, in my opinion, is that it enables people to continue their unhealthy lifestyles with this added sense of security. Some might say a false sense of security.

And, for those who might not remember, "we are all going to die sooner or later". This was told to me time and time again as I tried to encourage people to live a healthier lifestyle.

If people don't care enough about themselves to live healthier lifestyles, why should I care?

Originally Posted by pooh (Post 555197)

Yesterday afternoon Dr. Godon Ewy talked about the "new" method of resuscitation being used on individuals who have sudden cardiac arrest....compressions only. A much easier, though still work, method to help those in arrest maintain oxygen to the brain. He also talked about the number of AED devices here in TV neighborhoods. At this point, there are enough in place to cover 6000 homes I believe he said....that's approximatel 12,000 individuals.
We have two AEDs on our street, we have 65 homes. The 4 other streets behind us, total of 65 homes, have their own. David Rowland was also in attendance....his life was saved by compression only CPR and the use of an AED.
They are an expense, but when neighborhood members contribute, the cost per household isn't beyond anyone's budget.

If you are unaware of this new CPR technique, here's a short video. Continuous Chest Compression CPR

Remember the life saved could be yours.

Originally Posted by pooh (Post 555260)

Did you attend yesterday's presentation?

Originally Posted by Villages PL (Post 555276)

No, I didn't because I felt it wouldn't be of interest to me.

And as far as all of those cardiac events you mentioned, people better be sure to pay attention to how they feel and not overstress themselves, go for regular check ups, eat a healthy diet, maintain a healthy weight and get moderate exercise.

One question about singles: If a single person drops to the floor and goes unconscious, how will this system help them?

Originally Posted by pooh (Post 555289)

It won't...just as it might not help if anyone was home alone. The entire 911 system only works if someone can call 911, however this is not sufficient reason to eliminate AEDs in neighborhoods. People can go into cardiac arrest anywhere....outside, inside, at a shopping mall, at home. Workers at your home or in the neighborhood can go into cardiac arrest. Remember, someone could feel just not right, call 911 themselves, then collapse. We never know when we may be stricken. Have two friends, one with congenital heart problems, another with cardiac electrical problems. The congenital condition wasn't discovered for many, many years...bypass surgery done in her 50's....the other with such severe electrical problems that devices are implanted and still problems must be addressed. Both watch their diets and engage in exercise approved by their physicians. These conditions aren't the result of poor diet choices, VPL, one was unlucky enough to get a ??? heart from the genetic soup that resulted in her. The other one developed problems over the years.... probably an inherited situation or genetic screw-up. We do what we feel will help the majority, though not all will be helped. We participate if we want to, no one is forced to. Getting there quickly may or may not help....but remember, if we get there, the person is essentially already dead...we're just trying to help bring them back. It might work, it might not, but it can't hurt.
May we both be blessed with not having this sort of situation. Live long and prosper, I truly mean that.... :)

Originally Posted by Villages PL (Post 555679)

Thanks for your reply, pooh. You know me, I'm always trying to make sense of things. Perhaps I should have gone to the lecture. But I believe tickets would have been needed and I didn't think it was worth making two trips.

Here are some questions I thought of after reading the article in yesterday's paper. Perhaps you'll have an answer because you were at the lecture.

How many lives have been saved in the past year that were solely due to the use of AEDs?

The newspaper said the survival rate was 44 percent last year. After reading an article about AEDs, one might mistakingly think the 44% survival rate pertains solely to AEDs. But that is the overall survival rate. From what I understand, there are about 122 (911) heart attack calls per year, of which 54 survive. And of those 54 survivers some of the credit goes to compressions where an AED is not available. Some credit is due to the fact that emergency responders can now give quick EKGs in the home before transporting someone to the hospital, not to mention other possible proceedures they do today that were not available in previous years.

So, I guess my question is this: How many AEDs are there in the villages and how many lives-saved are solely attributable to them each year? As far as I know we don't have a separate percentage or statistic for this.

Best regards, stay well.