By Leslie Boyd
Asheville Citizen-Times
Copyright 2008 Citizen-Times.com
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — David Walter wouldn’t have died if the gym where he worked out had owned an automated external defibrillator, or AED.
That’s the message his daughter, Megan Shook, wants everyone to hear.
Walker was 55 when he went into cardiac arrest. A physician and a personal trainer gave him CPR, but it wasn’t enough. His heart needed an electrical shock to get it beating again. By the time he got to the hospital, it was too late.
“AEDs aren’t expensive and they’re easy to use,” Shook said. “They should be in every public place and they should be accessible, not locked up,” she said.
After Walter’s death in Austin, Texas, in 2003, the gym bought an AED.
Statistics show that more than 200,000 Americans die of sudden cardiac arrest every year. Up to 50,000 of these deaths could have been prevented with a little knowledge and an AED, said Mary Barnett, director of the Health and Safety Department at the Mountain Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.
“CPR is important and people should know it,” Barnett said. “But AEDs are the standard of care now. They save lives.”
An AED for can cost as little as $1,400 for a business or public place, Barnett said.
The Red Cross can help people get discounts from some manufacturers.
The week of June 1-7 has been designated by Congress as National Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator Awareness Week.
While the name doesn’t necessarily roll off the tongue, it is a life-or-death issue, Shook said, and she is working with the Red Cross to get the word out.
“My dad was my best friend,” she said. “This is something I want to do in honor of him. … I want to see them in schools, at sporting events, in gyms, downtown, at libraries, in malls and grocery stores.”