In the world of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) the magic number is ten.

Whether you are a helpful bystander or a trained emergency medical technician, it’s estimated that you have ten minutes to take the steps to save the life of someone whose heart is in ventricular fibrillation (sudden cardiac arrest).

The first thing to do if you find someone without vital signs (pulse and breathing) is to call 911 — or send someone else to make the call.

If an AED is nearby, open the AED and follow the voice prompts, including voice prompts for giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). If no AED is available, someone with CPR training should begin CPR evaluation and administer CPR.

How common is sudden cardiac arrest?

According to the most recent American Heart Association fact sheet on outside-of-hospital SCA, statistics on the incidence of sudden cardiac arrest in America are not exact. (The Heart Rhythm Foundation puts the mortality rate from SCA at 325,000 deaths per year, and the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association, at 250,000). All three organizations cite figures that 93 to 95 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital.

Europe adds an estimated 700,000 more sudden cardiac deaths, according to the European Resuscitation Council.

That’s one million sudden cardiac arrest deaths every year!

Thus, the desperate need for publicly accessible defibrillation.

According to Dr. Mickey Eisenberg, writing for the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, in cities such as Seattle (WA) and Rochester (MN) where emergency response time averages six or seven minutes, 30 to 43 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims in witnesses ventricular fibrillation survive.

(In New York City, where emergency response time average 12 minutes, the survival rate is only 5 percent.)

He goes on to cite statistics from cardiac rehabilitation centers that show that defibrillation within a minute or two after collapse can enable as many as 90 percent of SCA victims to survive.

These statistics on emergency response defibrillation are echoed by numbers from on-site defibrillation programs including the Chicago airports and Las Vegas casinos. There, public access defibrillators have allowed non-medical rescuers to assist SCA victims in the first few minutes after collapse, achieving survival rates of 50 percent and better.

AED Awareness Week

As the second annual CPR and AED Awareness Week draws to a close,  we hope you’ll sign up for CPR and AED training through the American Heart Association and American Red Cross. And that you’ll advocate for the placement of AEDs in your community. As AED awareness takes hold, it’s estimated that the national survival rate for SCA could improve from 7 percent to 50 percent and 40,000 lives could be saved each year in the U.S. alone.

Last 5 posts

• Cardiac Science AEDs in Spain [VIDEO] - April 4th, 2011
• Cardiac Science wins first major public access defibrillation program in Europe - March 30th, 2011
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• Sad stories, avoidable deaths? - March 23rd, 2011
• Texas school's AED saves 6-year-old's life - March 22nd, 2011