National CPR and AED Awareness Week highlights the critical need for hands-only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training and increased availability of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) in public spaces.
The annual event encourages individuals to learn life-saving techniques, a message underscored by survivor Al Tsai of Bellevue, who was saved by some teachers in Saint Paul, Minnesota, by CPR in 2008.
Approximately 350,000 people experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, and most do not survive when not in a hospital, according to Dr. Nicole Saint Clair, Executive Medical Director of Regence BlueShield.
Having an AED or receiving CPR significantly increases a person’s chances of survival. Medical professionals and survivors advocate for more widespread access to AEDs and for more individuals to learn hands-only CPR.
Tsai, who now calls Bellevue home and has lived there for the last five years, says 18 years after his cardiac arrest, he wants to emphasize the life-saving impact of CPR as a survivor.
“I had just parked my car in a parking garage, and I had stumbled out of the stairwell onto the sidewalk. Fortunately, I was in view on the sidewalk, and down the street, some teachers had seen me,” Tsai said, recalling the 2008 incident in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area where teachers saved him with hands-only CPR.
The teachers had been working at school helping children onto a school bus, but they noticed him down on the ground. He attributes the lifesaving effort as the reason for not just his life, but how he has been able to live, “I’m very lucky to have the family I have and been able to raise my children to be there with my wife. I consider myself very fortunate,” Tsai said.
He is now speaking out for more common AEDs in public spaces. “There are a lot more AEDs in public, but we have a long way to go,” Tsai said.
Dr. Saint Clair highlighted the impact of blood flow during cardiac arrest. “The amount of time that an organ doesn’t have blood flow significantly impacts it, and so if you’re even able to get some circulation from CPR, you’re definitely helping the situation,” Dr. Saint Clair said.
She also explained modern CPR protocols. “So, when we’re doing CPR now, you only have to use your hands. You no longer have to do any rescue breathing or any of the mouth-to-mouth, as it’s called. You want to put your hands on the chest and pump hard and fast,” Dr Saint Clair said.
Public places such as stadiums, schools, and public buildings are now stocked with AEDs. Despite these advancements, the American Heart Association and medical professionals agree that current accessibility is not sufficient.
Tsai advocated for a standard and goal to make AEDs so common that if anyone experiences a cardiac issue, an AED can be accessed and used in less than 3 minutes. Until this goal is met, they hope every American learns hands-only CPR.
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