Nevada Regional Medical Center announced receipt of three AEDs (Automated External Defribillators) donated by Vernon County Ambulance. The AEDs are now located in some of the hospitals satellite facilities where they are more likely to be needed.
NRMC received the first AED last year. A need was recognized for the equipment at some of the hospitals facilities and Vernon County Ambulance was contacted. The ambulance service was able to donate an AED they were no longer using. Recently, NRMC received two more AEDs. New batteries and defibrillation patches were purchased for each AED and each unit tested competent prior to being placed. The three now sit ready at Rich Hill Family Medical Clinic, Show-Me Acceleration and the NRMC Clinical Services building, which houses NowCare Clinic and Performance Therapy. The average cost of a new AED is approximately $1,500.
Sudden cardiac arrest occurs over 700 times daily in the US, resulting in approximately 250,000 deaths per year. An AED will deliver a shock to revive the heart in cases of cardiac arrest. Early defibrillation in such cases increases an individual’s chance of survival. For each minute without defibrillation, a victim’s chance of survival decreases by 7-10 %. The links or actions in the American Heart Association Chain of Survival are:
· Early access to the Emergency Medical Services system by phoning 911.
· Early CPR
· Early defibrillation (AED)
· Early advanced care
Darla Engelbrecht, education coordinator, instructs CPR courses at NRMC. She believes in the life-saving potential of AEDs. “It’s imperative that the public is educated about AEDs. They need to know where they can be found and how to use them to save a life in an emergency,” she said. |