Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and CPR Policy Creation is a must for businesses and government agencies.
Author: http://www.AEDrx.Com
AED Policy Creation

Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anytime. This is one of the main causes of sudden death in the US and every year an estimated 250,000-400,000 people suffer from sudden cardiac arrest. In case of SCA, a person's heart undergoes ventricular fibrillation and stops supplying blood to the body and brain which can lead to death or severe neurological damage. However, a person's life can be saved if immediate medical attention is provided in form of CPR and defibrillation. CPR can supply small but crucial amounts of blood to the brain and defibrillation with an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) can get the heart working in normal rhythm.

Since SCA can happen anywhere in offices, schools, colleges, airports, public parks, etc., all these places must have an AED policy that ensures that the building is equipped with AED. The existence and implementation of an AED policy can not only save a life in case of an emergency but it can also save an organization from AED liability complications that can arise from an SCA related death on company premises. Here are some main points that need to be taken care of while forming an AED policy for your organization.

· AED Training: Providing AED training to ensure correct use AED is one of the most important factors in an AED policy. A training course can be conducted on a half yearly basis for the employees of an office or for personnel on duty. The training must be given by authorized agency and once the training is complete, refresher courses can be provided at regular intervals to update information. It should be ensured that all individuals expected to operate the AED machine get the required training and are confident to use AED in an emergency without any fear or inhibitions.

· AED Equipment: Installing good quality AED equipment at the right place should also be the core focus of the AED policy. The number of devices should depend on the size of the building, so that the devices could be placed anywhere for easy reach in case of an emergency. It is advised to get AED devices that have longer lasting lithium batteries as compared to AA batteries that do not last for long.

· AED Equipment Maintenance: A proper AED maintenance policy should be there to ensure that AED equipment is in perfect condition when the need arises and the device can be used without any delay. The equipment should be inspected for working condition on a weekly basis and an inspection report should be prepared for record. Any AED machines that are damaged or missing from their place should be reported to the authorities and replaced immediately.

· Emergency usage: In case an AED machine is used for defibrillation during SCA, proper vocal directions from the machine should be followed. The record of each step should be maintained in the machine as this record can be used by the medical personnel for further treatment of the patient.

The availability of an AED in the premises and a trained person can be a deciding factor in saving a life. You can find out more about forming AED policies and AED devices at SanDiegoAED.com

Automated External Defibrillator, AED and CPR, AED Policy Creation

Author: AEDrx.com

Preparedness is essential when tackling life threatening medical emergencies effectively. AED emergency response drills prepare the rescuer for helping the victim of sudden cardiac arrest. The CPR and AED trainings have to be equivalent to the American Heart Association Heart Saver AED standards.

AED emergency response drills are very effective and make the potential rescuers confident of using AED equipment when need be. By knowing the AED emergency response drill, you can help a victim of sudden cardiac arrest before the emergency medical services (EMS) personnel arrive.

American Red Cross has designed CPR and AED programs to instill confidence and spread awareness amongst the general population. Apart from the programs for professional rescuers, there are programs which will prepare you for delivering CPR or defibrillation if anybody is victimized by sudden cardiac arrest in your family or community.

There are courses which prepare you to help SCA victims in your workplace and schools.

AED practice drills should include staff members in case of organizations and students and teachers in case of school and other people who can help the victim. The drills involve simulating the emergency situation of a cardiac arrest victim using manikins. Various scenarios must be used for practice drills for effective training.

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Author: AEDRx.com
Heart Attack Symptoms

Myocardial
infarction or heart attack commonly occurs when blood supply to a
portion of heart gets blocked. The blocked blood needs to be restored
early; else the clot in the heart coronary arteries may damage the
heart muscles or even cause death.

Any individual can suffer from this
medical condition. However, some people are more susceptible to have
heart conditions than others.

The major triggers of heart attack are
previous history of diseases like heart attacks, bypass surgery,
angina, stroke, atherosclerotic coronary heart disease, diabetes, high
blood pressure, etc., older age, smoking, alcohol, drug addiction,
obesity, stress, etc.

Sign and Symptom of a Heart Attack: Some
early heart attack symptoms include dizziness, excessive pressure,
chest pain and squeezing. There is burning pain in varied body parts
like arms, jaw, stomach, back, neck and epigastrium. The person may
feel shortness of breath, excessive sweating, nausea, palpitation,
anxiety, vomiting, etc.

Female Heart attack Symptom: Heart
attack in women is less common as compared with men. Men over 45 and
women over 55 have a higher risk of having a heart attack.

In women
chest pain heart attack symptom is less analytical as in the case of
men. Some common women heart attack symptoms are fatigue, sleep
disorder, dyspnea, weakness, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting,
back and jaw pain. The causes of MI in female are also very distinct as
compared to men. Some major causes include lower income, short
education, oral contraceptive pills, etc.

Silent heart attack
symptom: Heart attack that occurs without any symptoms is known as a
silent heart attack. These are most common in women, patients of
diabetes and people older than 65. Silent heart attacks often occur
with mild heart attack symptoms like chest pain.

Massive heart
attack symptom: Massive heart attack occurs due to the cut off of blood
supply to the heart muscles. This blockage reduces the heart muscles
ability to pump the blood and also affects the working of the heart
valves. Some massive heart attack symptoms are chest tightness,
burning, pain in the left shoulder, arm and hand, discomfort in neck
and jaw, sweating, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and fatigue.

Panic
heart attack symptom: Panic heart attack is considered a serious
condition as the exact causes are still not known. However, the major
causes are believed to be stress and anxiety due to major life changes
like marriage, first child, graduation, exams, etc. Panic heart attack
generally occurs during the teens or early adulthood.

A few panic heart
attack symptoms are chest pain, shortness of breath, rapid or pounding
heart beat (palpitations), sweating, dizziness, weakness, abdominal
difficulty, feeling light headed, etc.

Heart Attack Treatment

·
Physical examination: Initially, the doctor will review the patient's
complete medical history. He will then perform a physical examination
of your body and listen to your chest. The doctor will check for signs
like abnormal sounding of lungs, rapid pulse rate, high blood pressure,
etc.for heart condition diagnosis.

· Tests: The actual
diagnosis of heart attack is done with the help of tests like CT scan,
MRI or Electrocardiogram. These tests are used to discover different
abnormalities. The blood tests can also help you to detect abnormal
levels.

After the complete diagnosis, treatments to restore the
blood flow should be started. Treatments include medicines and medical
procedures. A wide variety of medicines are available to treat and
prevent heart attacks. Medicines can also be bought to relieve pain in
chest, arms etc. With the help of life-saving procedures like
angioplasty, the blocked section of the heart can be easily opened.
Emergency bypass surgery can also be performed to treat the heart
condition. Consult a heart specialist for heart treatment.

Myocardial infarction, Heart Attack Symptoms, panic attack symptoms

AED Liability Issues
Author: AEDrx.Com

Victims of sudden cardiac arrest can be saved by performing CPR or using AED according to the situation. In the absence of preparedness and proper arrangement to deal with cardiac arrest emergencies, owners of hospitals, schools, hotels, offices and other institutions can face AED liabilities. It is very important to know the consequences associated with absence of AEDs. Till date, several cases have been filed and won against organizations for not having proper AED program in place.

There are various AED laws defined by every US state that should be considered before implementing an AED program to avoid any kind of legal obligations or lawsuit. Although not having an AED program at all can cause a greater legal problem but misuse of the same can also lead to legal issues. It is very important to use AED equipment that complies with Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and the American Heart Association's (AHA). In addition to using high quality AED equipment, regular maintenance is extremely important to ensure efficiency and reliability of the equipment in case of cardiac emergency.

In 1997, Florida was the first state to implement state laws on heart attacks, cardiac arrest and defibrillators and by 2001 all the fifty states of America had enacted defibrillator laws or adopted regulations. The purpose of various bills passed and the AED laws enacted was to increase the usage of automatic external defibrillator to save lives in case of cardiac emergencies. AED laws have been regularly updated, expanded, and amended in order to cut-down on death count that is caused due cardiac arrest.

AED Laws implemented in 2008
All the private and public organizations need to abide by the State AED laws or they can be sued or charged penalties by the state government. Not implementing State AED laws can also increase the risk of wrongful death lawsuits. Apart from deploying AEDs on all the strategic points the organizations also need to train their staff about how to use AED in case of emergencies. In case they fail to have an AED trained personnel on board, they can be charged for negligent or improper use of AEDs.
· States supporting AED laws for Schools: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee
· States supporting AED laws for Health Clubs: California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.
· States supporting AED laws for Day Care Centers: The state of Wisconsin according to which dentists and day care center must have AED program in place.
Workers' Compensation and Strict Products Liability Act
If an organization has a proper AED program then laws like Workers' Compensation and Strict Products Liability protect it from risk of liability incase someone has a heart attack and dies on the premises due to sudden cardiac arrest. State-of-the-art AED equipment, regular AED maintenance as per the guidelines, and excellent AED training can help in implementing a successful AED program and avoid AED liability issues. Timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation and application of automated external defibrillator can help save the victims of sudden cardiac arrest significantly. The usage of AEDs has significantly improved the survival rate of cardiac arrests, and there are many state laws formulated to encourage the use of automated external defibrillator.

Federal Cardiac Arrest Survival Act (CASA) & Good Samaritan Legislation
Apart from various AED laws related to AED usage, AED placement, AED training, and AED maintenance, there is now the Federal Cardiac Arrest Survival Act (or CASA) under which, according to the Good Samaritan law the person who renders emergency treatment with a defibrillator will be exempted from any kind of liability incase of death.

Today, all 50 states in the United States have passed Good Samaritan legislation to defend people who act and provide medical assistance to victims of sudden cardiac arrest using AED. However, Good Samaritan laws vary from state to state but by and large they eliminate any kind of AED liability on a person who volunteers to save the victim. Furthermore, according to most AED laws, there is limited or no AED liability for the physician who provides medical approval, the AED trainer, the property owners and other people involved in enabling the AED program.

AED Liability Issues, CPR and AED Good Samaritan Protection Law

Facts About AED Defibrillator Protocols
Author: AEDrx.com

AED protocol is established by organizations for successful implementation of AED programs. It should be in tune with the standards of standards of the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross Such protocols can be established with the help of your medical director. Focus areas on an AED protocol are the use and care of Automatic External Defibrillators suggestions and warnings, procedures to use AED, medical guidelines, AED maintenance process, and reporting procedures. You can contact Cardiac Science for further information and assistance in developing AED protocols. This article discusses some important AED protocols that must be followed.

· The United States Food and Drug Administration and some US states require that a physician should supervise automatic external defibrillator programs. Trained and certified people should only perform AED emergency response drill.

· Another AED protocol requires that the defibrillator must not be used for a victim of under 1 year of age. It should not be used to defibrillate a patient who has pulse. For the victims of sudden cardiac arrest who are over 8 years of age, the responsiveness of the victim needs to be checked and then the responder needs to call 911 for emergency responders.

· The next thing which the responder is required to do is to get an AED if it is around, and start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) right away. Knowing how to perform CPR is essential as only half of the patients of sudden cardiac arrest actually require defibrillation.

· Certain steps need to be followed for adult CPR, such as ensuring if the scene is safe, taking care if the victim is lying on a flat surface and that he is not lying face down. The responder then needs to find out if the victim is breathing normally or else CPR is required.

· For using AED, the rescuer is required to turn on the AED and follow the voice prompts. The next step is to attach pads, and care must be taken that pads meant for a child are not used on adult and vice versa. The correct placement of pads is also essential and the rescuer can easily know how to place the pads exactly by seeing the picture on the packaging.

· While delivering shock, it is responsibility of the responder to make sure that nobody is touching the patient including the responder himself as the electric shock may be potentially fatal. If the AED indicates that no shock is required, then the rescuer is required to perform CPR only. The responder is required to follow the same steps in case the victim is a child except he should remember to attach the pads meant for child and not an adult.

· There are also certain special situations which will require the responder to change the way of using an AED. For instance, AED pads may stick to hair if the patient has a hairy chest. In that case, the AED will neither be able to check the heart rhythm of the patient nor deliver a shock. In such a situation, the rescuer will need to press down firmly and if the AED still does not work properly, then shaving the area where pads are to be placed will help.

· A rescuer should never deliver shock to a victim who is lying in water as the energy will not go to the heart and even the rescuer might get an electric shock. The appropriate procedure to follow in such a situation is to shift the victim away to a dry place and wipe his chest before attaching the pads.

It is important to follow the AED protocols to ensure that no harm comes to the patient of sudden cardiac arrest before the arrival of emergency medical services. In a nutshell, basic steps of AED Protocol are: safety checking and clearing the area, checking responsiveness of the patient, calling 911 and requesting EMS, checking for breathing, giving 2 slow breaths in case of abnormal or no breathing, checking for pulse, turning on the AED in case there is no pulse, attaching the AED electrode pads, ensuring no one is touching the victim, analyzing the heart rhythm and if pressing the "Shock" button is advised.

AED Defibrillator Protocols, san diego aeds

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