By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Automated external defibrillators can save lives – but only if people can find them.
That was the case this week, when an emergency call came into the Bowling Green Fire Division on Wednesday of a person down, not breathing at the Ohio Department of Transportation in Bowling Green.
The fire division was out on three different ambulance runs at the time.
“All of our guys were out,” said Bowling Green firefighter/paramedic Brandon Westerman.
A crew rushed from dropping off a patient at the hospital, to the emergency at ODOT. By the time the paramedics arrived, an AED was already being used by bystanders at ODOT.
“They had already delivered a shock on the AED and the patient was alert and talking to them,” Westerman said. The ambulance crew then took the patient to a Toledo area hospital where a stent was implanted.
“We get in these situations, where we’re busy with two or three calls,” Westerman said. And in cases like this, an AED can make all the difference.
“This shows the need for them,” he said.
So the Bowling Green Fire Division is working to improve community response to cardiac arrests by creating a database of AED locations throughout the city.
“We are working on getting citizens more involved and allowing them to provide lifesaving help,” Westerman said.
Bowling Green has AEDs throughout the community – including 37 at Bowling Green State University alone.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know where they are,” Westerman said.
As part of the continuing quality improvement process, Bowling Green firefighters are visiting and contacting local businesses to get information on where AEDs are located. The database will be integrated with the county dispatch software to allow dispatchers to give 911 callers directions to an AED if one is nearby when they call for help.
“There are probably more than we thought,” Fire Captain Lucas Ward said.
Most large factories and gyms are equipped with them. Public buildings like the senior center and library have them. And a few years ago the Bowling Green Rotary Club donated AEDs to some locations.
“Just figuring out where they are is the biggest thing,” Ward said.
According to the American Heart Association, there are more than 350,000 cases of sudden cardiac arrest each year in the U.S. Along with early recognition, notification of 911 and bystander CPR, early defibrillation greatly improves the chance of survival and patient outcomes.
“If you have any number of employees at all, it’s really cheap insurance,” Ward said. “It really makes a difference.”
Communities with AEDs and education programs on using them show survival rates from non-hospital cardiac arrests at 40 percent. That compares to 10 percent otherwise, Westerman said.
AEDs work by automatically diagnosing deadly heart rhythms, then shocking the heart back to an effective rhythm. Most of them walk the user through the process with verbal and visual assists.
Training in using an AED is part of regular CPR training now – which the fire division may offer in the future.
By mapping out the AEDs in the city, the fire division will also be able to identify where they are lacking.
“Where are there gaps,” Westerman said. “Are there areas where we could do better.”
And if so, the fire division may try to identify funding possibilities for locating more AEDs in the community.
Bowling Green citizens are being asked to help the firefighters in locating AEDs across the city by notifying the fire division if your business has an AED present. You can contact the fire department by email at bgfire@bgohio.org or by phone at 419-352-3106.
Residents are asked to provide the address, the name of the business, and a detailed description of where the AED is located. Provide description in detail so that a person who is unfamiliar with the building would easily be able to locate the AED quickly in an emergency with directions over the phone. Provide room numbers or any other distinguishing features that may apply.
