Florida AED Automated External Defibrillator Advice by The CPR School | AED Shopping Tips

Florida - There are many myths and misconceptions about AEDs, what they can do, what they can´t do and if you should really have a defibrillator in your business, club, school or home. Below I will talk more about AEDs, their uses and if you should own one.

What is an AED and how does it work?

An Automated External Defibrillator or AED is a portable, battery operated electronic device about the size of a laptop computer. The AED automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a victim and is able to treat the patient by an electrical shock which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to re-establish an effective rhythm. AEDs are designed to be simple so that anyone can use one. So simple that I often start my classes by selecting someone from the class that has never seen an AED and I ask them to demonstrate how to use an AED by following the AEDs voice instructions. To date, the youngest person to effectively demonstrate the AED in one of my classes was 9 years old.

Why should I buy an AED?

According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac arrest claims about 340,000 lives each year – or around 930 every day in the United States. Sudden cardiac arrest, which is the leading cause of death in the United States kills more people than breast cancer, lung cancer, and AIDS combined. Currently 95 percent of all cardiac arrest victims die.

How expensive are AEDs?

AEDs range in price from about $1,200 to about $1,800. Although this is not inexpensive it is invaluable if it saves your life or the life of a friend, family member or coworker. Buying a used AED on EBay or buying an AED from a salesperson that has little or no knowledge about the AED is never a good idea. These are life saving devices – if they fail, your patient dies.

What are the benefits of owning an AED?

Without the AED the chances of surviving Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) outside of a hospital setting are very small – less than 5%. However, if the AED is applied to the victim quickly their odds increase to about 70% - 90%. Besides from the obvious benefit of saving a life, you may also be able to avoid costly litigation. Numerous law firms are now going after business owners that do not have AEDs where a customer died from sudden cardiac arrest.

Think of buying an AED as buying insurance. The AED should help save a life and it should keep the lawyers away. If an employee or customer dies from sudden cardiac arrest you will spend at least $50,000 defending against this action. If you save their life with an AED you can prevent a lawsuit. Makes the AED sound like a bargain doesn´t it.

Should my company, HOA, Church or group purchase an AED – Automated External Defibrillator?

My answer is always "Yes". According to OSHA 13% of all workplace fatalities result from sudden cardiac arrest. According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac arrest claims about 340,000 lives each year – or around 1,000 every day in the United States. Sudden cardiac arrest, which is the leading cause of death in the United States. Cardiac arrest kills more people than breast cancer, lung cancer, and AIDS combined. Currently 95 percent of all cardiac arrest victims die.

Simply put, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) save lives. Would you spend $2,000 if it saved an employee? The answer is obviously yes. You have smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, security cameras and other systems to save property why not put something in place that saves lives. Think about this, how many fire extinguishers does your company own? How many AEDs? Fire extinguishers are designed to save property whereas an AED saves lives. Life safety is far more important than saving property.

How much does an Automated External Defibrillator cost?

Recently I delivered an AED in a waterproof carry case to a business who´s employees work with and around electricity. They wanted to make certain if an employee were accidentally shocked they would have the training and equipment to save their life. The cost of the AED and waterproof case, delivered was just under $1,900. There are cheaper options but this customer wanted a good quality AED and did not want to cut corners on safety.

What does OSHA indicate about AEDs?

"Because the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) can save the lives of workers who experience cardiac arrest while on the job, OSHA today encouraged employers to consider making this equipment available in their workplace." US Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs, Dec. 17, 2001

What about Federal Laws regarding the use of AEDs?

The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act (CASA) of 2000 is our nation's first legislation recognizing the lifesaving role played by automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The law highlights the need to make AEDs accessible to anyone who has had proper training, not just professional medical personnel. The law protects trained AED users from liability, and also protects any person who has maintained the device, provided training, tested the device or acquired it. The law also augments existing state "Good Samaritan" laws by ensuring federal liability protection for trained users and purchasers of AEDs.

What type of training is required to use an AED?

AEDs are designed to be very simple to use. However, this is a race against time. For every minute we delay shocking our victim their chance of survival drops 10%. Training increases speed, confidence and efficiency. I suggest working with a professional trainer that has real life experience using CPR and AEDs on real people. An instructor that can work with your staff to answer any and all questions. Someone that can create realistic training scenarios to use during class and most importantly someone that can make your staff comfortable using their new skills. You don´t want an instructor that scares or confuses them. Look for a full time, insured professional that knows AEDs, CPR and First Aid.

What are the odds of my company using an AED?

In August of 2003, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) conducted a survey. Of the 400 members surveyed 34% that implemented an AED program used the AED at least once to help save a life. Of those people in cardiac arrest, 66% were revived by the AED.

The CPR School can help your business meet OSHA compliance requirements, reduce workers' compensation claims and improve productivity. The CPR School can save your company money and protect your employees with our CPR AED and First Aid Safety Certification Classes held at your Florida workplace.

Workers´ compensation claims are unfortunately an expensive part of doing business in Louisiana. Even the safest company will eventually have an employee get injured on the job. How quickly you provide the proper medical care can be the difference between a minor accident treated at the workplace, a trip to the hospital or a major life threatening injury.

The costs of these work related injuries are high. These injuries can not only increase workers compensation premiums, but they can also can increase your businesses experience modification, make it harder for you to bid jobs, reduce productivity, possible OSHA fines and possibly result in a negative image of your company within the community.

There are two key areas where we can help. First, during our classes we stress accident prevention. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The second area is with our onsite CPR AED and First Aid training certification program. Implementing a quality CPR AED and First aid program allows your company to treat many qualifying injuries immediately and onsite. Our training will not only keep minor injuries from affecting claims experience and the company´s experience modification but it will allow your staff to treat serious injuries and possibly save lives.

Here is what we do - We offer CPR AED, First Aid and Bloodborne Pathogen HIV AIDS Safety Training Certification Classes at your Florida business. The CPR School will travel to your Florida business, office, construction company, manufacturing facility, distribution facility, office, warehouse or any other location offering CPR, AED, First Aid Safety and bloodborne pathogens HIV AIDS safety training certification classes for your employees at your facility.

The CPR School will assist you with federal and Florida OSHA compliance and other safety training requirements. Safety compliance does not have to be expensive and time consuming – we make safety affordable and won´t waste your time. The CPR School´s employee health and safety training programs are designed to provide your business with everything necessary for Safety Training and Compliance. On site training courses anywhere in the state of Louisiana.

From small businesses to large corporations we can help with all of your safety needs. All Florida companies can reduce costs and minimize risk exposure while improving employee morale with The CPR School´s Safety Certification Training Programs. Compare and save. When you perform a cost benefit analysis, comparing in-house training provided by The CPR School versus sending your staff to an outside training site or using expensive "non-profit" agencies for training you can easily save your organization 25% of your annual safety training budget!

Florida Workplace Medical Emergencies happen every day and we can prepare your staff for these medical emergencies. Our CPR, First Aid and AED classes are both educational and fun. Our philosophy is that learning should be fun. We feel that if you have fun, laugh and the CPR class is interesting you will enjoy yourself and will absorb and retain the material better. Another major difference, all of our instructors have actually performed CPR, First Aid and used AEDs on real people. Not all instructors have real world CPR First Aid AED experience, they simply read about CPR and First Aid in a book. We believe real world experience makes for a better instructor and believe you will too. All of our courses are designed to comply with the most current OSHA regulations. We offer onsite group safety training classes at your business or you can attend one of our group classes held at our Jupiter - Palm Beach County training classroom.

WHAT WE DO:

1. CPR Training Classes - Certification and re-certification classes

2. First Aid Training - includes choking and stroke warning signs

3. HIV / AIDS Bloodborne Pathogens Class

4. AED Automated External Defibrillator Training

5. AED- Automated External Defibrillator Sales, Maintenance, Service, Program Management and Consulting

6. Safety Committee implementation and member training

7. Emergency Medical Preparedness Safety Drills.

Customer comments

"Thanks for handling the extra people yesterday. Rare do I get such feedback on a CPR class but they all made a point to say you were great. You made if fun and funny! They learned a lot and that makes me feel comfortable with their skills for future emergencies. We´ll schedule another one in the next month or two."

We offer American Heart Association, ASHI and ECSI CPR AED First Aid & Bloodborne Pathogens Safety training certification classes at your location. The CPR School provides our corporate customers quality CPR AED First Aid Safety training in an accelerated format, presented in an entertaining and informative manner. No boring video tapes or dry lectures – we promise.

What Florida cities does The CPR School service?

We can ship AEDs – Automated External Defibrillators anywhere in the USA. For training it is best of you have a group of 10 or more people. If you have at least 10 people we will travel to your Florida business and conduct group CPR AED and First Aid certification classes at your Florida business. Call us to discuss your training needs. We travel all over the world.

AED Sales | AED Service | AED Battery | AED Electrode Pads | AED Inspections | AED Training Classes | AED Program Management | Safety Drills | AED Consulting

The CPR School can help you every step of the process from A to Z. We start by helping you find the right make and model AED. Next we help you select the right location for the AED. Then we train your staff how to use the AED. Then we train your staff how to properly maintain and inspect the AED. And finally, if you use the AED we help you download the event data and get the defibrillator back into service. No other company can provide the same level of experience, education and expertise.

Keith Murray, owner of The CPR School, LLC is a licensed Florida Firefighter EMT who holds a masters degree and both the Florida 220 and 215 insurance licenses. Mr. Murray consults with Florida businesses, clubs, schools and homeowners associations regarding safety training, performing AED needs evaluations as well as implementing AED programs. We assist with all aspects of the AED program from planning to implementation to maintenance. We are your complete source for your Automated External Defibrillators (AED), CPR AED and First Aid Safety Training Classes and other risk management issues.

Contact The CPR School at 877-6-AED-CPR or (877) 623 3277 or on the web at www.TheCPRSchool.com