School AED

MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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Around here most suburban schools have AEDs.

Yesterday I was watching the news where a kid was at soccer practice, collapsed, and didn't survive after some CPR. I wanted to know if they had access to an AED... but I guess I'll never know.

My real question is, do you think it's a good idea to start a fundraising effort at my new school to purchase an AED and implement an AED program. Of course it sounds like a no-brainer to me, but I wonder if the $1000 could be better spent on supplies that we'd use every day. I know I know, AEDs save lives, but I wouldn't want the community to resent fundraising efforts by some new do-gooder northerner.
 
You saw the news coving a story about a kid who died at soccer practice.
Two weeks ago a kid died at football practice close to my hometown.

It can happen anywhere, anytime. Every school should have one. You're looking at about $2000, not $1000. If you have a school of 200 kids, have each kid raise ten dollars, deal done. The more kids in the school, the less each has to raise.
 
Our school got a grant of some sort for an AED. I believe there are still grants out there for them some place. I know that there was training done for the teachers or school staff done by the school nurse who is a CPR instructor.
 
well the prediction years ago was for AED's to be accessible publicly as are fire extinghishers

so should that be the case, does if fall in ems's lap to be the ambassador of cpr/aed?

~S~
 
AED's are great... but they need to be accessable to the public... in a tamper-resistant, video monitored case if need be, but accessable to EVERYONE... not sitting in the office next to the secretaries desk.
 
Luckily, I just found this forum. I'll give you one reason for having AED's in schools: Tues., May 27, 2003. I'm a paid-on-call EMT-B, and I was working my other (temporary-have since left) job as a school maintenance/janitor at one of our elem. schools. It was raining that day, so the kids were inside for gym class. I just happened to be standing about 5 feet from the gym doors, when I heard the gym teacher yell out a child's name-one of those "blood curdling" screams. I turned and saw a little girl lying face down on the floor. I ran to her and rolled her over, did assessment - no pulse. I started CPR without a mask or face shield, yelled for gym teacher to get AED & call 911, as she was getting rest of kids out of gym. Attached AED, gave 1 shock, then analyzed - "no shock advised", still no pulse. Continued CPR, this time with help from school nurse. Our ALS arrived, assessed asystole, we continued CPR for about 2-3 minutes after they got onscene. Got strong pulse back, she woke up, started fighting the tube. She was alert and talking when we wheeled her into the ER. Turns out she had undiagnosed Long QT Syndrome, and had ICD implanted. Went home after a couple weeks. She's a beautiful 9 year old today, who has not had any problems since that day. The school dist. bought the FR2 AED's with pedi. pads shortly after they went on the market, and it made all the difference less than 2 years later. I have made a new friend for life - heck, she's like my own kid. She's sitting next to me as I'm typing this, and we're going out for lunch and ice cream as soon as I hit "Post Quick Reply."
 
Matt-

Absolutely your new school should have one. Organize a spare change drive, car wash, bake sale...whatever you want. If there is resistance to it, look into grants. They ought to have AT LEAST one in the school, in a case, accessible to anybody that comes by. The one at my sons school (I examined it today at orientation) has an alarm on it. When the case is opened, the alarm sound and a light starts flashing.

But with the AED, obviously comes the training. Make sure those teachers/staff know how to use it as well.
 
New York has a PAD (public access defibrillation) program, and I think they offer grants to help schools get the AEDs... if you don't have something like that in your state, start petitioning local companies, especially if they are a local branch of a huge company - they may be interested in making a donation.

In NY schools are required to have trained staff and defibrillators available while school sponsored and school approved curricular and/or extracurricular events/activities and school athletic contests and competitive athletic events are taking place.

The below linked letter from the State is pretty good if your state doesn't have a program in place - it talks about training requirements, etc.
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/deputy/Documents/defibrillatorsfieldmemo.htm
 
EMT-B1996 said:
Luckily, I just found this forum. I'll give you one reason for having AED's in schools: Tues., May 27, 2003. I'm a paid-on-call EMT-B, and I was working my other (temporary-have since left) job as a school maintenance/janitor at one of our elem. schools. It was raining that day, so the kids were inside for gym class. I just happened to be standing about 5 feet from the gym doors, when I heard the gym teacher yell out a child's name-one of those "blood curdling" screams. I turned and saw a little girl lying face down on the floor. I ran to her and rolled her over, did assessment - no pulse. I started CPR without a mask or face shield, yelled for gym teacher to get AED & call 911, as she was getting rest of kids out of gym. Attached AED, gave 1 shock, then analyzed - "no shock advised", still no pulse. Continued CPR, this time with help from school nurse. Our ALS arrived, assessed asystole, we continued CPR for about 2-3 minutes after they got onscene. Got strong pulse back, she woke up, started fighting the tube. She was alert and talking when we wheeled her into the ER. Turns out she had undiagnosed Long QT Syndrome, and had ICD implanted. Went home after a couple weeks. She's a beautiful 9 year old today, who has not had any problems since that day. The school dist. bought the FR2 AED's with pedi. pads shortly after they went on the market, and it made all the difference less than 2 years later. I have made a new friend for life - heck, she's like my own kid. She's sitting next to me as I'm typing this, and we're going out for lunch and ice cream as soon as I hit "Post Quick Reply."
Click to expand...


Wow. Awesome :) :)
 
I'm not sure what the regulations are on AED's internationally, but in Canada, particularly Alberta, it's illegal for someone to use an AED w/o the proper training and certification. In BC, you have to have a med. dir. in order to have that certification. I'm not entirely sure why that is - AED's are monkey proof.

My service has recently started the "Heartsafe Zone" project - a community initiative to put AED's in local schools.

In my not so professional opinion, AED's should be wherever there are large amounts of people.
 
In the united states there is one AED that does not require an Rx. Studies reported that even untrained bystanders with adequate support (through audio instructions) generally do a good job using the AED.

The Philips HeartStart OnSite is sold without an Rx and can be baught at Walgreens, Amazon.com, and eBay. Most other AEDs available online come with an Rx.

I believe that Philips isn't necessarily better or easier, but they spent the money and gained enough support to receive approval for general use. Ped pads still require an Rx though.
 
I can't say I've ever heard of having an Rx (you are reffering to a prescription? :wacko:) for an AED. The most commonly found AED's in Canada are Medtronic LifePak 500 or LifePak CR PLUS. They are virtually foolproof - and they come standard with both adult and pediatric pads. I think (don't hold me to this) they have started studies on bariatric pads as well.

They are now being installed in public facilities like rec centers, municipal buildings, transit stations, LRT (canadian equivalent of subways) stations, office buildings and shopping malls.

Here's some interesting stats as well - 1 in 6 people in Edmonton, AB have been trained in AED. 1 in 10 People in the same area have been trained in Advanced First Aid. 1 in 4 people have an emergency or standard first aid certificate. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doens't it? (If you live here, it does...)
 
My usage of Rx above referred to a prescription. On a run report it is the "R" of my CHART report.

Again, all AEDs in the United States require medical direction. A prescription is a form of medical direction, and would be needed should someone want to purchase an AED for personal use. The only exception to this is the Philips HeartStart model which does not require a prescription. Of course medics don't require a prescription because they have medical control and standing orders.

The LifePak 500 and more recently the LifePak CR Plus are the most common AEDs I've seen. I've yet to see a Zoll (my personal favorite) or any other brand in person.
 
Zoll? Those are the ugliest things out there.

I sold AED's (Phillips, Medtronic and Zoll). All of Matt's information is dead-on. I can't add anything else to this thread.
 
Yeah... in the states, the FDA says you need a persiciption to buy an AED... except for the "HeartStart AtHome" The reason for this is that you need to have medical direction and oversight if you are going to have a PAD program... The Doc is supposed to provide that oversight.

Several places that sell AED's have programs where they will provide medical oversight for a fee. (Galls offered a program for a while)
 
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