AEDs can make all the difference

Now that tax season is over it is time to think about the stress this and other life-changing events have placed on your heart. Does your outpatient phlebotomy drawing area have an AED? What about the lab? When minutes count, it is not enough to rely on a “code blue” team to save someone in distress. Survival rates increase to as high as 70% when the victim is reached within three minutes. Survival decreases by about 10% for each minute of delay after that, and only 5% of victims survive when reached after 10 minutes. With an aging workforce in the laboratory, an AED can make all the difference.

It is important to train several individuals on how to use the equipment. Courts are now looking to AEDs as a “required standard of care” for employees and citizens in public areas. Now, organizations may be held liable for negligence in a sudden cardiac arrest if AEDs are not available or if employees are unaware AEDs are available on site.