Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter (Post 2312673)

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Originally Posted by pokeefe45@aol.com (Post 2312509)

I have always feared that having a complete 'AED' program would be a barrier for anyone to actually learn and practice CPR-The mention in another reply about a Village having had AED's for 20 years without ANY use is eye-opening-Are we able to gather any facts from VPSD about the existing programs? And how do we educate people to ensure CPR is the initial response and ensure we have a neighborhood filled with residents trained in CPR? I'm just a 'little dawg' in Lake Denham-but your posts are making sense to me-How do we engage and redirect now before it's too late? Noone is ill intentioned-but maybe ill-informed?

Originally Posted by asianthree (Post 2312543)

As mentioned earlier The fire department has a program for entry to homes without breaking down a door. Box with a key is added to outside home. No major problems involved.

Originally Posted by G.R.I.T.S. (Post 2312588)

I don’t think they are necessary. My call to 911 had EMTs in my kitchen in 5 minutes. Not enough time for a neighbor to be dispatched with an AED. We declined years ago to participate and haven’t been disparaged.

Originally Posted by HORNET (Post 2312713)

Sounds like a money maker for someone. Why not let each individual Village do their own thing!

Originally Posted by jayteadunn (Post 2312285)

I wanted to add some info to this. I've been in the fire service and ems since the mid 80's.

Most importantly the chance of survival diminishes by 10% for every minute it takes to get an AED physically on the patient. The fire dept has a goal of a firehouse within 2.5 miles of a home. With the 911 call, getting on the engine, and driving to the call its 5 minutes. 50% chance. The neighborhood groups add 20% to 30% to the chance of survival.

Absolutely early CPR is the key BUT imagine you rearranged your spark plug wires on your car in the wrong order. You can try to start that car all day and it will never run. A heart rhythm is like those spark plug wires. You can do CPR until the cows come home BUT if the heart is in the wrong rhythm the cpr isn't going to help. Shock the heart into the right rhythm and you are ready to have cpr start than engine.

I read a lot in this thread about the fire dept arriving first. The Villages Fire Rescue is BUSY. They do tons of medical calls every day. You don't need to believe me. Download the pulsepoint app to your phone. Choose sumter county and watch the calls. The unit numbers for the vehicles are shown for each call. Look how many do call after call. While the villlages wants firehouses every 2.5 miles to each home realize your unit can easily be on another call and now your waiting for the one 5 miles or 7.5 miles away. It is what it is. Look at the app and see how busy they are. You will be surprised.

Someone said "AED's run on batteries and in some cases are $2,000" I think they meant the brand new AED is $2,000. The unit the FD recommends now is a little under $2,000 which includes the battery which often is good for several years.

Someone said "what prevents these from being stolen?" many have padlocks and are keyed the same for the AED program and the rescuers are issued padlock keys.

Someone said "Actually the fire department has a program that a box holding a key can be placed on your home to gain entry" this is called a knox box and the villages fire rescue has keys which open the knox box. All of the knox boxes in the village are keyed alike so they can open it in an emergency and pull out your home key. I installed one, it was easy. With sales tax and shipping it was under $230. The vendor is VSC Fire & Security in Orlando 407-679-3332. You want the residential one. here is a short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N-xXB2510o

Originally Posted by Ponygirl (Post 2312910)

Thank you to Big Dawg and others for talking abt the importance of initiating CPR immediately

I am a Red Cross certified BLS- CPR/AED/ first aid instructor trainer and high quality CPR is critical High quality CPR means using the correct
hand position and correct depth and tempo for compressions.

The manikins that we use for training have lights that indicate the correct depth and tempo to help students understand how to do the compressions correctly

So some referred to Hands Only or Compression Only CPR - no rescue breaths Keep compressions going without stopping until the area is unsafe or some relieves you or EMS arrives

If using rescue breaths The ratio is 30 compressions to 2 rescue breaths

We recently had a class at First Responders rec center

Originally Posted by Marathon Man (Post 2312628)

I agree with Bogie. But more importantly, if you do not believe that you can accomplish a lifesaving activity, then simply don't volunteer. But why question a program that has saved several lives over the years here in TV? The neighborhood EMT programs here terrific. I am proud to be a volunteer responder. And yes, that includers coming to your aide if needed.

Originally Posted by BigDawgInLakeDenham (Post 2312787)

Mntlblok....the AED decides if it should give a shock based on VT/VF and say "SHOCK ADVISED". I guarantee you will seldom hear those words stated by the AED and why I keep saying CPR. You would not want to shock a person that is awake because you could stop their heart. You will learn about helping in certain scenarios and it's designed so everyone can learn it. The more trained help on scene the better.

I was on the receiving end in the ED as the RN doing CPR, pushing ACLS drugs, and running the defibrillator. We only saw positive outcomes when EMS was activated and CPR was immediately started. We're lucky to have Healthcare professionals amongst us bringing decades of know how....but it's on all of us to know what to do and how to do it because EMS and the ED are TOO far, at this point in time.

I just re-read all of the posts in this thread and I am disgusted by some posts that I can only assume are male Physicians claiming that no one is getting out of bed and that all Nurses are female, and the AED costs less than getting our nails done. Let me assure you than Nurses are not weak, they are all not female, and don't confront me about this post, if you are the male chauvinist pig, if you value your orbital bones.....think Laforte 4....I jest somewhat but please don't discount my female coworkers. Looks really bad on you

Originally Posted by mntlblok (Post 2312971)

I have all the respect in the world for first responder programs and their volunteers. That stuff is not easy and often not convenient for those doing the work. I presume that EMT programs are a version of that, but am unfamiliar. A two week hospital rotation with a couple of over-nights in an emergency room demonstrated that such things are most definitely not for me. Had an AED in my office for many years and was prepared to use it, but *really* hoped never to need to.

My pondering is about the practicality of this particular type of AED program. I have no problem with rational discussion of such subjects. But, I would be interested in hearing here about those lives saved to date, as well as maybe how specific situations have played out - especially "if ever" over 20 years as has been reported in specific programs. Googling for such information has not yielded much so far.

Originally Posted by Marathon Man (Post 2313017)

I really don't understand your purpose. The neighborhood emergence response program has been in place for quite a while now. You seem to be looking for flaws in it. Why not take the training and get your answers firsthand? You will see for yourself that it is designed, implemented and overseen by the pros.