BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Students at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine have partnered with organizations to push to register AEDs across Western New York locations, for easy access, when every second counts.
"A lot of people aren't aware of where their nearest AED is when they go to work or home, especially in other areas or access is not as good to AEDs so in underserved areas as well," UB Jacobs School of Medicine Doctoral Candidate and Social Justice Fellow for the school's Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement Rhonda Drewes said.
Call 911, do chest compressions, then use the AED. These are the three things to do when someone goes into cardiac arrest, in the hopes of helping them stay alive.
"We really don't know what happens in the university or maybe when you walk down the street," UB Jacobs School of Medicine undergraduate Urvashi Vandu said. "I guess, learning CPR is the best way to make a person survive."
It seems like an easy task, though according to the Cleveland Clinic, about 54% of Americans said they know how to do CPR but only one in six know that the recommended technique for bystander CPR consists of just chest compressions and no breaths on an adult.
Drewes is part of a team at the university.
"If you look at a city that Cardiac Crusade partners with PulsePoint, in San Diego, the survival is 50% as opposed to 10% as the national average for sudden cardiac arrest," Drewes explained.
The partnership includes the Erie County Health Department, UBMD, Sports Medicine, Cardiac Crusade and PulsePoint, a mobile app created to register every AED in the country.
Greg Coon is the co-founder of Cardiac Crusade which is something that holds near and dear to him.
"My wife had a sudden cardiac arrest in 2018," Coon said.
His wife, Julie, is part of the 10% club that survived cardiac arrest.
"911 was called immediately. Within 45 seconds, she was given CPR. In two minutes, she got the first of two shocks. She survived it, she had no cognitive issues at all," Coon added.
His organization is working to ensure there are 1,000 AEDs on the map in Buffalo, from now through February 14.
To do so, you have to become an AED Location Verifier, through a 20-minute online training.
A verifier will be able to identify, locate, register and verify an AED.
This makes them available to locate by your local 911 or EMS system and soon on your smartphone.
"I feel so lucky and just so fortunate that she's part of the 10 percent club, that people took action. That people went to her when she dropped to the ground, that people took action. They got the AED and they brought her back to life," Coon shared.
The contest is open to anyone in the eight-county area.
To sign up to become a volunteer and an AED Verifier, click here.
