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Spring Into Safety With National Electrical Safety Month

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May is National Electrical Safety Month, and it’s a great time to raise awareness on how to avoid potential electrical hazards.

By taking simple precautions, everyone can avoid electrically related fires, fatalities, injuries, and property loss.

Here are some safety tips:

Indoors:

  • Check electric cords for fraying or cracking. Replace cords that may be damaged, and don’t overload electric outlets.
  • Remember extension cords are intended to be temporary; they are not intended as permanent household wiring.
  • Don’t run cords under carpets or rugs and don’t tack or nail cords to walls or floors.
  • Keep electric appliances and tools away from water. Never reach for or unplug an appliance that has fallen into water; instead, turn the power off at the breaker before you unplug the appliance or remove it from the water.
  • Never put anything other than an electrical plug in an outlet. Use outlet covers or caps to protect children.
  • Keep your home’s electrical system in good repair. Contact a licensed electrical contractor if you have flickering lights, sparks, non-functioning outlets, or need wiring repairs or upgrades.

 

Outdoors:

  • Never touch downed power lines!
  • Always call your local utility or 911 if you see lines down.
  • Watch for overhead lines every time you use a ladder, work on roofs, trees, or carry long tools or loads. Keep kites, model airplanes, and metallic balloons away from power lines.
  • Know what’s below before you dig. At least 3 days before starting any digging or excavating project,  call 811, the National One Call Center, to have underground utility lines, pipes, and cables marked for free.
  • Avoid planting trees underneath power lines or near utility equipment.

 

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Source:http://www.eei.org/resourcesandmedia/energynews/Pages/Spring%20into%20Safety%20with%20National%20Electrical%20Safety%20Month.aspx

More lives could be saved after cardiac arrest, are you CPR Certified?

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Anyone can learn CPR, are you or your employees trained to save a life? 

Green Guard offers weekly CPR classes for companies and groups, Green Guard’s CPR, AED and First Aid training program will help employers meet OSHA and other federal and state regulatory requirements for training employees how to respond and care for medical emergencies at work.

This 2-year certification course conforms to the 2015 AHA Guidelines Update for CPR and ECC, and the 2015 AHA and ARC Guidelines Update for First Aid.

CPR classes are a great team building opportunity!

 

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More people might survive cardiac arrest if more bystanders tried hands-only CPR

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More lives could be saved after cardiac arrest if bystanders applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), even if it’s just the hands-only version, a new study suggests.

With hands-only CPR emerging as an alternative to the traditional method – chest compressions coupled with mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths – Swedish researchers decided to investigate the impact of the simpler method.

They found that when rates of either type of CPR increased, the chances of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest doubled.

“In this nationwide study (we saw) an almost six-fold higher proportion of patients receiving compression-only CPR,” said co-author Dr. Jacob Hollenberg, director of the Centre for Resuscitation Science at the Karolinska Institutet. “Any type of CPR was associated with doubled survival rates in comparison with cases not receiving CPR before EMS arrival.”

It’s currently unknown whether CPR including mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths when performed by bystanders is superior to the simpler hands-only method, Hollenberg said in an email. There is an ongoing large randomized controlled trial to answer that question, he added.

Hollenberg suspects more people would be willing to learn hands-only CPR than the traditional method.

For the study published in Circulation, Hollenberg and his colleagues analyzed all out-of-hospital bystander-witnessed cardiac arrests reported to the Swedish Register for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation between 2000 and 2017. Altogether the researchers had data on 30,445 patients.

The proportion of patients receiving CPR from bystanders grew from 40.8 percent in 2000-2005 to 68.2 percent in 2011-2017. The proportion who got standard CPR was 35.4 percent in the earlier period and 38.1 percent in the later period. But over the same time, the proportion who got hands-only CPR rose from 5.4 percent to 30.1 percent.

 

During the nearly two decades covered by the study, survival rates improved for both groups of patients. Thirty-day survival after standard CPR rose from 9.4 percent to 16.2 percent, and after hands-only CPR it rose from 8.0 percent to 14.3 percent.

Overall, compared to patients who didn’t get any kind of CPR from bystanders, those who got standard CPR before first responders arrived were 2.6 times as likely to survive to 30 days and those who got hands-only CPR were twice as likely to survive 30 days.

The study shows that any kind of CPR is better than no CPR, said Dr. Clifton Callaway, vice chair of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. “This is a tremendously robust data set,” Callaway said. “They’ve been able to track this for many, many years.”

The American Heart Association has been popularizing hands-only CPR, Callaway said. “The message they’re trying to convey is that if you don’t choose to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, you can still do chest compressions and help somebody with cardiac arrest,” he said, noting that mouth-to-mouth is still required for other conditions, such as drowning.

The reason hands-only can work is that when people experience a cardiac arrest, they still have oxygen in their lungs, Callaway said. “Chest compressions will buy you some time until someone comes to get the heart started again,” he said.

The other advantage to hands-only CPR is that 911 operators can talk you through it even if you haven’t had any training, Callaway said. “Dispatchers should be able to coach anybody to do chest compressions and provide this potential to sustain life until professional help arrives,” he added. “In my mind, there’s no reason we can’t have 60 to 80 percent of Americans who have had a cardiac arrest receiving assistance from bystanders.”

 

 

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Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cpr/more-people-might-survive-cardiac-arrest-if-more-bystanders-tried-hands-only-cpr-idUSKCN1RD37U

Five Safety Tips that Impact Business

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Follow these tips to create and maintain a strong safety culture that engages employees as part of the process.

It’s easy to turn a blind eye to safety when working in fast-paced environments and having to meet project deadlines. However, most manufacturing employers can attest to the turbulent outcomes that can arise if safety standards are not regularly enforced. Our everyday actions can have an impact on cost and productivity. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2,000 eye injuries occur every day in the workplace, costing more than $300 million in lost production time, medical expenses and worker compensation.

It’s clear that many companies are failing workers with insufficient safety programs and injury prevention plans. However, employers have the opportunity to turn this situation around with a few changes. Protecting employees doesn’t mean your organization has to start from square one. It does, however, require you to create a strong safety culture and open communication channels so employees can collaborate when it comes to hazard identification and problem-solving.

Here are five tips that operations managers, site managers and safety coaches can use to start that dialogue:

1. Start from the top. Developing a healthy safety culture requires leadership to champion safety as a key organizational value. The company culture must include leading, working and acting safe. When management leads in safety, the organization will follow.

2. Distribute safety surveys. When executing on your safety culture, it’s important to first find out what your employees know about your safety guidelines and expectations. Are they familiar with your corporate policies and procedures? Do they even know their own responsibilities when it comes to safety? This survey also serves as a great opportunity to get anonymous feedback on employees’ perceptions about safety in your workplace.

3. Conduct pre-shift huddles. This is a time when management can reinforce the safety culture by covering near-injury misses, newly identified hazards and educating staff on how proper processes and equipment handling can protect everyone’s health and safety. The goal of safety huddles is to also provide an open, non-punitive forum for employees to communicate about workplace safety.

4. One-on-one discussions. Supervisors can build trust and show respect for their workers’ safety by engaging associates in informal safety discussions. Associates who know that their opinions and perspectives are valued will be more likely to participate in informal communication about safety practices. This is also an ideal setting to gain feedback from employees who may not be comfortable bringing up concerns in front of a large group.

5. Perform ongoing safety training. Providing safety training for employees is essential for creating a culture of workplace safety. A workforce with a strong understanding of safety guidelines and best practices is more likely to recognize potential hazards before they occur. This can lead to fewer injuries and help you avoid costly losses in productivity and employee morale.

Some of the benefits of a safer and more engaged workforce include:

●       reduced workers’ compensation costs, lower medical expenses and improved productivity.

●       improved safety as a result of clear and repeatable processes for identifying and addressing hazards and injury threats.

●       stronger employer branding and positive outside perspective of the organization.

 

 

Impact on Employer Branding

Workplace safety should begin and end not only with workers in mind, but with workers being engaged—actively participating and driving safety programs forward. High levels of employee engagement have also been correlated with greater productivity, quality and profitability, as well as reduced turnover rates. It can also contribute to improved employee retention, and it even has the ability to impact recruiting, since job seekers will be able to learn about your culture of safety through online reviews. In today’s world, job seekers look to current and former employees’ experience to decide whether or not they want to work for a company.

 

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Source: https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/five-safety-tips-impact-business

Teen learned CPR at a JoCo high school. Two weeks later, he used it to save his dad

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When Olathe East High School students got their state-mandated CPR training this winter, freshman Seth Johnson couldn’t fully participate because of a broken collarbone. 

But he was paying close attention.

Two weeks after the training, Seth, his arm still in a sling from a lacrosse injury, helped his older sister, Claire, use CPR to save their dad when he went into cardiac arrest.

Call it a hands-on follow-up lesson.

“Just do whatever it takes,” Seth, 14, said he learned. “Don’t be too scared to do CPR if it’s happening.”

Seth and Claire, an Olathe East senior, were both home Feb. 15 because of a snow day.

Their 52-year-old father, Mark, was in the kitchen making lunch when he told Seth he suddenly wasn’t feeling well. He sat down on the couch, but then things got worse.

“He was kind of grunting and I didn’t know what was going on, so I just yelled his name and he wouldn’t respond,” Seth said.

Hearing the yells, Claire ran in, and the two of them pulled their dad off the couch and laid him flat. He wasn’t breathing. Claire told Seth to call 911, and then she started CPR.

Claire had the same training course at Olathe East but also had been CPR certified as a lifeguard her sophomore year. She knew what she was doing, but after about four minutes of heavy chest compressions she was spent, and Seth had to take over.

“It was really exhausting,” said Claire, 18. “I couldn’t imagine doing it anymore. If Seth wasn’t there I would have (tried), but it helped a lot that he was.”

About two minutes later the paramedics arrived and took over, doing chest compressions and shocking Mark three times with an automatic external defibrillator.

He spent five days in the hospital, but has since made a full recovery.

“I went to the gym with him just the other day actually,” Claire said.

Claire and Seth both said their dad’s brush with death has brought their family closer. They spend more time together now and they don’t take for granted that they will always have one another.

 

Mark said he doesn’t remember much from that day. But he does remember waking up in the hospital and being told the story several times as he tried to get reoriented. Every time, he got emotional thinking about his kids’ poise under pressure.

He said a relative’s father had died years earlier under similar circumstances.

“Basically he had a heart attack at home and his wife and daughter were there and they didn’t really know what to do and they lost him,” Mark said. “Thankfully my kids had learned CPR — my son just two weeks earlier. Everything was a miracle.”

The American Heart Association has lobbied for CPR training in schools, and as of last year 38 states — including Kansas and Missouri — had enacted laws requiring it. Kansas’ law was passed in 2017, but some school districts had been doing the training long before that.

Sudden cardiac arrest kills almost 350,000 victims every year, and causes brain damage in an unknown number of people who survive it.

Recent studies have shown that CPR saves less than 20% of people in that situation, but experts say it’s still worth trying, and the earlier it’s administered the more successful it’s likely to be.

In the last two years most emergency dispatch systems in the Kansas City area have connected themselves to PulsePoint, a smartphone app that alerts CPR-certified users when someone near them is in cardiac arrest.

Claire and Seth said they encourage others to get CPR training, and not be afraid to put it to use.

“Always jump into action,” Claire said. “Even if it doesn’t end up working, at least you tried.”

 

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Source: https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/health-care/article229269669.html

More than half of workers aren’t trained on first aid, CPR

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About 10,000 cardiac arrest situations occur in the workplace each year, yet only 45 percent of U.S. employees have been trained in first aid – and only 50 percent of workers know where to find an automated external defibrillator

– according to the results of a survey recently conducted by the American Heart Association.

Researchers surveyed more than 3,000 workers in various industries, including more than 1,000 safety managers in OSHA-regulated industries. They found that 50 percent of workers overall – as well as 66 percent in the hospitality industry – could not locate their workplace’s AED. Results also showed that more than 90 percent of participants said they would take first aid and CPR/AED training if their employer offered it, and 80 percent said that it was “simply the right thing to do.”

 

 

Other findings:

  • 73 percent of office employees believe a co-worker would know how to provide first aid in an emergency, and 70 percent of general industry workers reported the same.
  • 66 percent of workers in education believe a co-worker would know how to use an AED if the situation called for it, and 57 percent of office workers reported the same.
  • 68 percent of office workers rely on a co-worker to know how to administer CPR.

“The data suggests these untrained employees may be relying on their untrained peers in the event of an emergency, leaving employees with a false sense of security that someone in the workplace will be qualified and able to respond, when that is clearly not the case,” Michael Kurz, co-chair of the AHA Systems of Care Subcommittee, said in a June 19 press release. “First aid, CPR and AED training need to become part of a larger culture of safety within workplaces.”

 

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Source: https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/15886-more-than-half-of-workers-arent-trained-on-first-aid-cpr-survey

Less than 20% of Americans are equipped to perform CPR, lets change that…

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Anyone can learn CPR, are your employees trained to save a life? 

Green Guard offers weekly CPR classes for companies and groups, Green Guard’s CPR, AED and First Aid training program will help employers meet OSHA and other federal and state regulatory requirements for training employees how to respond and care for medical emergencies at work.

This 2-year certification course conforms to the 2015 AHA Guidelines Update for CPR and ECC, and the 2015 AHA and ARC Guidelines Update for First Aid.

CPR classes are a great team building opportunity!

 

Call Now to speak with a Green Guard First Aid/CPR Specialist

Click Here to learn more about First Aid/CPR

Chat? Click on the “Live Chat” button

#cprreadytosavealife #cprteambuilding

 

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Did You Know You Need To Test Your Eye Wash Station Weekly To Meet OSHA/ANSI Standards?

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Compliance is an all-day, every-day requirement.

Emergency showers and eyewashes are required by the ANSI/ISEA Z358.1-2014 standard to be activated weekly, with a more thorough evaluation on an annual basis. With OSHA fine increases of 80 percent having taken effect in August 2016, violations for inappropriate or inadequate eyewash and shower equipment have resulted in penalties of more than $100,000.

The standard guides the placement, functionality, and maintenance requirements for emergency showers and eyewashes. ANSI/ISEA Z358.1, in its current form, is the clearest and most useful tool for protecting workers from eye, face, and bodily injuries resulting from caustic and corrosive materials introduced by workplace incidents such as spills, splashes, and blown particulates.

The standard requires stringent testing to be conducted on a regular basis to ensure properly functioning equipment is being provided at all times if an incident were to occur. We should all understand that compliance is not a once-a-year or once-a-month responsibility. Compliance is an all-day, every-day requirement. Accordingly, emergency showers and eyewashes are required by the ANSI/ISEA Z358.1-2014 standard to be activated weekly, with a more thorough evaluation on an annual basis. This requirement is established in Sections including 4.6.2, 4.6.5.

In practice, emergency response equipment such as eyewashes and showers sometimes fall to the wayside when it comes to maintenance, especially when prioritized against emergency preparedness equipment such as eye protection and fall protection. You should know that OSHA does not prioritize or take a backseat when it comes to providing adequate and properly functioning equipment, regardless whether the equipment aids pre- or post-incident.

ANSI Weekly Minimum Performance Requirements
The standard itself has three minimum requirements for weekly inspections:

  1. Emergency equipment shall be activated weekly. (Each piece of equipment is required to be activated.)
  2. Activation shall ensure flow of water to the head(s) of the device. (This would be both the eyewash or eye/face wash head, as well as the showerhead.)
  3. Duration of the activation shall be sufficient to ensure all stagnant water is flushed from the unit itself and all sections of piping that do not form part of a constant circulation system, also known as “dead leg” portions. (The duration is determined by the length of piping where stagnant water could be sitting before it reaches the head(s) of the unit.)

In addition to the above weekly minimum performance checklist required by ANSI/ISEA, it is recommended as a best practice to conduct additional weekly functional checks. The purpose of these additional checks is to fully ensure the equipment is operating correctly and is capable of providing proper first aid in the event of an emergency.

ACCESS

  • Path of travel to the safety station shall be free of obstructions. (This could include hoses, boxes, and doors.) (Sections 4.5.2, 5.4.2, 6.4.2, 7.4.2)

SHOWER

  • Shower must deliver a minimum of 20 gallons (75.7 L) per minute. (Sec. 4.1.2, 4.1.4, 7.1)
  • The valve shall go from “off” to “on” in one second or less and flushing fluid shall remain on without the use of operator’s hands. (Sec. 4.2, 7.1)

EYEWASH/EYE/FACE WASH

  • Outlets shall be protected from airborne contaminants. (Dust covers must be in place.) (Sec. 5.1.3, 6.1.3, 7.1)
  • The valve shall go from “off” to “on” in one second or less and flushing fluid shall remain on without the use of operator’s hands. (Sec. 5.2, 6.2, 7.2)
  • The flushing fluid of an eyewash or eye/face wash shall cover the areas between the interior and exterior lines of a gauge at some point less than 8 inches (20.3 cm) above the eyewash nozzle. (sec 5.1.8, 6.1.8,7.1)
  • Must provide a means of a controlled flow to both eyes simultaneously at a velocity low enough to be non-injurious. (Sec. 5.1.1, 6.1.1, 7.1)

COMBINATION UNIT

  • Combination unit components shall be capable of operating simultaneously. (When the eyewash or eye/face wash is activated, and then the shower is activated, there should be no “starvation” occurring to either of the heads.) (Sec. 7.3, 7.4.4)

TEMPERATURE

  • Deliver tepid flushing fluid. (The required temperature range is 60°F – 100°F [16°C – 38°C])(Sec. 4.5.6, 5.4.6, 6.4.6, 7.4.5)

Plumbed Shower and Eyewash Equipment
As a general statement, all equipment needs to be inspected weekly to ensure that there is a flushing fluid supply and that the equipment is in good repair. If the equipment is of a plumbed design, then it should also be activated weekly to clear the supply line of any sediment buildup and to minimize any microbial contamination due to stagnant water.

Self-Contained Eyewash and Shower Equipment
Self-contained, also often referred to as “portable,” emergency response equipment is typically used in locations where there is either no access to water or at highly mobile sites where hazards are mobile. The ANSI/ISEA requirement for this type of equipment is to be visually inspected weekly to determine whether the flushing fluid needs to be exchanged or supplemented (Sections 4.6.3 and others). The units should be maintained as per the manufacturer’s specific model instructions.

A majority of self-contained units that use potable water also offer a sterile bacteriostatic additive option to prevent the water from growing bacteria. An exchange of the water and refill of the additive is required every three months for most additive products, as well as rinsing the unit clean between the exchanges. If an additive is not being used, then the water should be exchanged on a weekly basis, at a minimum, with a thorough tank cleaning monthly. On an annual basis, self-contained units are required to undergo the full test just as plumbed units do.

The question is often asked whether a company must hire a certified tester to conduct the weekly and annual inspections. Fortunately, there are no prerequisite or certification requirements to be able to test the equipment, although having a complete understanding of the installation and performance requirements will aid in ensuring conformance. There are various training tools, including Online Competent Inspector Training, offered by equipment manufacturers and others for individuals to become subject-matter experts. This allows company personnel to get familiar with what to look for and how to conduct the tests appropriately. Many companies today opt to have an outside third-party inspection performed for them annually, which provides an added measure of credibility and assurance to the review process.

 

Facilities that contain hundreds of shower and eyewash units should strive to create as many subject-matter experts as possible. Once trained, the weekly checks can be completed rather quickly. Creating facility maps, having full testing kits available, and holding recurring training classes can assist in the tedious yet crucial weekly task.

Worker protection should be a priority in every safety plan. Simply providing emergency showers and eyewashes is not enough. It is necessary to inspect, test, and monitor equipment readiness and performance for the optimal response.

 

Did you know Green Guard First Aid & Safety offers First Aid service to help maintain your First Aid Cabinets? 

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Source: https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2018/09/01/Testing-Your-Emergency-Equipment-to-Meet-ANSI-Z3581.aspx?admgarea=ht.ShowersEyewash&Page=3

Telephone CPR could save lives, but…

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Immediate CPR can drastically increase the survival rate of someone who is experiencing cardiac arrest.

When someone calls 911, the time it takes for paramedics to arrive can be the difference between life and death.

Minnesota lawmaker Julie Sandstede knows this. She represents a rural area, where ambulances may take longer to arrive on the scene of a medical emergency.
When her husband experienced cardiac arrest in 2011, the dispatcher sent the ambulance the wrong way. Luckily, he was saved by a bystander who performed CPR on him under the guidance of a 911 operator.
“(The operator) was able to assess the situation and give direction to what intervention was needed,” Sandstede said. “We were so fortunate.”
Her husband, Evan Sandstede, was lucky to have an operator who knew how to walk someone through CPR. But that’s not always the case.

Heart attacks: What you should know

Heart attacks: What you should know
“When I learned that not all 911 operators are trained in how to instruct CPR over the phone, I couldn’t believe it,” Sandstede said. “I was shocked. … This is unconscionable.”
This legislative session, the Democratic lawmaker has proposed legislation in Minnesota that would require all 911 operators to be trained in telephone CPR.
Telephone CPR is the process in which a 911 operator helps the caller identify cardiac arrest with a short script and provides “just-in-time” instructions on how to provide CPR, said Dr. Michael Kurz, chairman of the American Heart Association’s Telecommunicator-CPR Task Force.
Sandstede proposed the bill after she was approached by the American Heart Association, which has been lobbying for these kinds of laws nationwide.

At least six states already require telephone CPR

At least six states already require 911 operators to be trained in telephone CPR, according to the American Heart Association. They are Louisiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Indiana, West Virginia and Maryland.
However, the American Heart Association has been lobbying for all states to adopt telephone CPR requirements. The organization said it would be a cost-effective way to increase the survival rates of people who experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital.
Widespread implementation of telephone CPR would include three to four hours of initial training and a yearly refresher, said Kurz.
“When we talk about public health interventions, this is a relatively low-cost, very high-yield way to improve public health,” he said.
Sandstede said her bill is modeled after Wisconsin’s law, which was enacted in 2018 and set aside $250,000 for telephone CPR training.

Telephone CPR could increase survival rates

About 350,000 sudden cardiac-arrest events occur in the United States each year, and survival rates nationwide average about 10%, Kurz said.
A 2018 Cleveland Clinic survey found that 54% of Americans say they know how to perform CPR. However, only 11% of respondents knew the correct pace for performing the chest compressions, the survey found.
Having a bystander provide CPR before paramedics arrive on the scene can double or even triple the rate of survival, Kurz said. Telephone CPR-trained 911 operators can identify whether someone is going into cardiac arrest with two questions, and can provide CPR instructions in about 20 seconds.

Heart attacks are on the rise among young women, study shows

Heart attacks are on the rise among young women, study shows
“The public largely assumes that if you call 911, you’ll receive instructions on whatever the medical emergency is,” Kurz added. “In reality, we know that there’s a very large disconnect.”
Some people think that telephone CPR is equivalent to practicing medicine and only physicians who are licensed should do that. However, Kurz said that is a misconception that is hindering public health.

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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/09/health/telephone-cpr-trnd/index.html

71-year-old man saves best friend’s life with AED, CPR after heart attack

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It was a normal day..

Bill Winness was walking his normal route through the Western Mall with his two friends the morning of April 5 when one started to feel dizzy. He urged Winness to keep going while he sat and rested for a bit.

Just minutes later, a woman came running after the 71-year-old and his friend, Ray Smidt, to tell them that their friend, Keith Clark, was suffering a heart attack.

They ran back as fast as they could. The next thing Winness knew, he was grabbing the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) inside the building while Smidt ran to Clark’s aid. Winness was by Clark’s side instantly after grabbing the AED.

Winness was trained how to use the AED, an electronic device that diagnoses a cardiac arrest, and how to apply electricity in the event of one, in addition to CPR training years ago. All he remembered were the basics, but that was enough.

Winness doesn’t remember panicking, just taking the steps he needed to save his best friend’s life.

“I guess you just do whatever you have to do, you know? You don’t really think about it,” Winness said.

The first step in using the AED was to apply adhesive strips to Clark’s chest for the AED to read what should be done. Since Clark had a pacemaker, the AED just instructed Winness to give CPR. He started chest compressions while another bystander stood on the line with a 9-1-1 dispatcher.

What Winness did helped provide the necessary oxygen to Clark’s brain and helped his heart pump blood while they waited for emergency responders.

It was only minutes, but what he did was vital to preserving Clark’s well-being, according to Scott Christensen, director of clinical service for Patient Care EMS.

“It buys time,” Christensen said. “That time it takes for someone to call for help until first responders arrive, it’s important for someone trained in CPR to give that type of care and assistance. All of that together is what helped save Keith’s life.”

If Winness wasn’t there to give CPR before units arrived, Christensen speculated that Clark might have passed away.

Clark, 81, was released from the heart hospital Friday. He’s in relatively good condition and was advised by his doctor to “lay low” for a few weeks.

This was Clark’s second heart attack, and he’s been suffering episodes for half his life. Winness and Clark talked about what they would do if this happened. They were prepared as much as they could be.

“We all knew where the defibrillator was mounted. We walk by it every day,” Clark said. “I think everybody should know CPR. It probably doesn’t hurt if everybody knew where these AEDs were either.”

Such training, for AED or CPR, saves lives, according to Christensen. And it’s worthwhile for anyone to learn the life-saving techniques, even hands-only CPR.

Bystanders in Sioux Falls helped give CPR for 73 percent of cardiac arrests in 2017, according to Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority.

It’s common for bystanders to take action in Sioux Falls, just as Bill took charge to help Clark. Nationally though, the REMSA registry’s average is action from bystanders in 38 percent of cardiac arrests.

Part of that is because of wide CPR training in the Sioux Falls area and because of dispatchers instructing 9-1-1 callers how to give CPR. The high rate of bystander help can also be attributed to Sioux Falls Fire Rescue’s Pulsepoint app, which alerts people when CPR is needed nearby.

“Any CPR is better than no CPR,” Christensen said.

For AEDs, it’s 28 percent of bystanders who intervene with the device in Sioux Falls. About 11 percent of bystanders across the registry intervened with an AED in 2017.

There isn’t a standard on how to provide signs for AEDs, Christensen said. Clark worries there needs to be better ways to inform people where the AEDs are — it could mean life or death.

 

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Source: https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/crime/2019/04/09/71-year-old-man-saves-best-friends-life-aed-cpr-after-heart-attack/3380193002/