Defibrillators give Facility Services immediate emergency response

By Larry Wood

For every minute that victims of sudden cardiac arrest go without treatment, their survival rates drops by 10 percent.

Facility Services has taken the initiative to ensure that its staff and the University community have access to immediate treatment and quick response times during such emergencies. About three years ago, the department trained employees who work with 50 volts or more of electricity in CPR to comply with OSHA regulations. Now, the department has expanded its training to include the use of automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, used to treat victims of sudden cardiac arrest.

"Electrocution can cause cardiac arrest, and it's surprising how little electrical current it takes to actually alter the rhythm of your heart or even stop your heart. It's just .1 amps. Most standard wall outlets are 20 to 30 amps," said Jerome Provence, safety manager for Facility Services. "We decided to purchase 11 defibrillators to deploy within our workforce. The management in Facility Services is committed to emergency response."

Three of the AEDs are in Facility Services' main buildings at 743 Greene St., the Pearl Lab on the 700 block of College Street, and the landscaping and environmental services shop on the 700 block of Pendleton Street. The other eight AEDs are deployed in high-voltage utility and electrical service vehicles around campus.

"If there is an emergency on campus that turns into a cardiac emergency of some type where an AED is needed, one of our trained electricians might be nearby with one," Provence said. "Approximately 80 out of 350 of our staff are trained in first aid, CPR, and how to use an AED."

AEDs use an electrical current to stimulate irregular, sporadic, or absent heart rhythms, and administering a shock to the heart quickly can mean the difference between life and death for a sudden cardiac arrest patient.

"A lot of people don't realize the important of a defibrillator. They think, well, the fire station is only a mile down the road," said Keith Boudre of the American Red Cross, Central South Carolina Chapter, who helped coordinate first aid, CPR, and AED training for Facility Services employees. "But three, four, five minutes can make a big difference between saving a life and losing a life."

The AEDs in Facility Services are semi-automated. To use one, a responder puts the pads on a victim and turns on the AED, which tells the responder what to do. "If the AED detects a shockable rhythm, it will charge, tell you to stand clear, and will shock the victim," Boudre said. "If it detects a non-shockable rhythm, you can push that shock button all day long and it won't shock."

If treatment is not recommended by the AED and the victim doesn't have the right rhythm to require defibrillation, the model used by Facility Services staff will talk the user through CPR. "If you've had the CPR training before, this will refresh your memory and allow you to do perfect CPR," Provence said.

The AEDs also record a victim's vital signs automatically. "Once the EMS arrives and takes the victim to the hospital, they've got all that data from the field, and the doctors in the ER can better understand that the victim is going through and give them better care."

The AEDs used in Facility Services have been approved by the FDA for use without medical supervision, but Gary Ewing, the University's occupational health physician, provides medical oversight as an extra layer of precaution.

"The Facility Services department has really taken a strategic initiative to enhance the training of its employees as well as provide them the equipment that they need," said Buddy Harley in environmental health and safety. "This initiative is going to benefit not only the employees in Facility Services but the University and give the University more resources in the event of a large emergency."

9/07