Notes From the Nurse, October 2011
The AED is here!
What am I talking about? An Automatic External Defibrillator. Learning how to use one enables you to shout “Clear!” like they do on TV, and, of course in real hospitals and ambulances. We all hope we never have to perform CPR or actually use an AED, but lives are saved everyday with this technology. OCUUC’s AED comes courtesy of our association with Hoag and their Health Ministry program. Hoag is both paying for the AED and for any necessary maintenance.
Let me give you a little background. CPR can save lives, but twice as many victims of sudden cardiac arrest are saved with use of CPR in combination with an AED within a 3 minute time frame. Simply, when someone sustains a heart attack, the electrical rhythm of the heart usually changes from effective pumping to ventricular fibrillation. This is a quivering heart unable to pump blood. CPR attempts to create effective pumping by external compression; it rarely converts the heart to a normal rhythm. That is what a defibrillator does. An AED is a computer which analyzes the heart rhythm and speaks out loud to the rescuer about the steps to take to send a shock to the heart in an attempt to establish normal rhythm. You have probably all seen AED’s without realizing it. All airports, fitness centers, convention halls have them now. More and more churches have been getting them as well.
Alan Block will be our site coordinator for the AED. It is not enough to have an AED on the wall; it must be checked monthly and a report sent via computer to the company. Alan will be doing this with Sally Cowan, RN, as back up. It will also do us no good to have an AED unless a significant number of us are trained in its use!
We are going to prioritize church leadership for training registration for our first class. As soon as they have the opportunity to sign up, we will open to the rest of the congregation. Our first training is Saturday, October 29 from 9 to 1:30. It will be limited to 16 people. We plan to have another training in the spring to get as many folks certified as possible. You will be certified in AED and CPR for adult, child and infant.
On another note: FLU VACCINE is coming. We will have our free clinic, Sunday, November 13. However, I do recommend that those of you who can, get vaccinated as soon as possible. Physicians and pharmacies have supplies now and Medicare covers it. Children and pregnant women should also be vaccinated.
Adair Small, Congregation Nurse
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