AED Cabinet - Save Lives With Proper Placement and Training

AED Cabinet - Save Lives With Proper Placement and Training

Having an AED cabinet in your workplace can save lives – maybe yours! Placing an automated external defibrillator (AED) in a strategic location in your workplace may give someone struck down by sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) a second chance at life.

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It has become more common place to see an AED cabinet at work and in public places. That is because sudden cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone. It is an electrical malfunction that causes SCA.

What this electrical malfunction does is cause the heart to quiver ineffectively in an abnormal rhythm called ventricular fibrillation. But what causes it? We know that it is sometimes triggered by a heart attack, but it can also happen without any blockage of blood flow to the heart.

What the lifesaving device inside an AED cabinet does is to deliver a lifesaving pulse of electricity to restore the heart's rhythm and pump blood throughout the body. However, it must be delivered quickly. Statistics show that only 5 to 10 percent of people struck by SCA survive. But, when individuals receive lifesaving AED shock within 3 minutes of collapsing, the survival rate shoots to 74 percent.

There are two keys to success. One is making sure employees, or any AED responders, receive proper and thorough training. The second is location. Here are a few things to consider when placing an AED cabinet:

Placement of AED cabinets:

Make your AED cabinet highly visible. Mount them on walls in general view (similar to first aid cabinets, safety cabinets or fire extinguishers )

Locate them near expected responders

Install your AED cabinet close to where the most people spend most of their time

Protect your AED cabinets from tampering. This can be done through the use of recessed mounts and alarmed cabinets.

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