By Monifa Thomas
Chicago Sun Times
CHICAGO — It’s been almost a decade since Chicago became the first city in the world to equip its airports with automated external defibrillators — known for short as AEDs — in 1999. Since then, the portable devices are credited with saving the lives of 49 people who’d gone into sudden cardiac arrest at the airports.
They’ve also become a fixture at malls, schools and fitness centers.
AEDs are also becoming more common in the workplace. But do you know where they’re kept where you work — and how to use one if someone collapsed?
Ninety-five percent of people who go into sudden cardiac arrest die within minutes. The odds of surviving are much better if someone can get blood flowing to the heart by quickly performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation while also using a defibrillator to restore a normal heart rhythm.
“There’s no other treatment for sudden cardiac arrest than the AED,” said Dr. Andrew Rauh, president of the Chicago metropolitan board of the American Heart Association. “CPR is good, but it’s a bridge . . . to get someone shocked back into a regular rhythm.”
Despite the life-saving potential of AEDs, access to defibrillators in public places is “hit or miss,” said Sherry Caffrey, director of Public Safety Solutions and the coordinator of the city’s airport AED program.
For instance, CTA stations don’t have them. And, at Wrigley Field, Sox Park and other high-traffic venues, they’re accessible only to trained employees.
Cost can be a barrier. Defibrillators typically sell for $1,500 to $2,000. Also, some school officials and business owners are wary of lawsuits if an attempted rescue by a bystander were to go wrong.
To address this concern, several states, including Illinois, provide legal protection to good samaritans who try to use a defibrillator in an emergency situation, according to the American Heart Association.
Rauh said AEDs are “really no-brainers to use,” even for an untrained bystander.
“You can’t shock yourself with them and . . . if a person doesn’t need a shock, they won’t get one,” he said. “You’re not going to regret having put one on someone.”
Still, Caffrey said it’s important for people to receive training on how to use AEDs and administer CPR, so that they’ll be prepared to act quickly in an emergency.
Dave Wille went into cardiac arrest while he was playing basketball at the Highland Park Hospital Health and Fitness Center in 2006.
“I sat down to rest . . . and started to chat with the guys next to me, and then, all of a sudden, everything went white,” the 49-year-old Vernon Hills man said.
Wille was unconscious for the next 12 minutes. During that time, two trainers at the health club used an AED to shock Wille’s heart and performed CPR.
Later, “The paramedics said if they had not used the AED and not performed CPR, I wouldn’t have been alive for them to take care of me,” Wille said.
He’s grateful the health club had an emergency plan the staff was familiar with.
“AEDs are basically foolproof, but you have to have the comfort level to take it off the wall and do what it needs to do,” Wille said.