Community outreach: automatic external defibrillators

During cardiac arrest, every second counts. If a defibrillator can be used, ideally within about three minutes, the victim has a 50 to 70 percent chance of survival. Unfortunately, national statistics indicate that 80 percent of all cardiac arrests occur outside the hospital, and only 5 percent of those individuals survive, simply because help could not get there soon enough.

Cardiac arrest is when a life-threatening change to a person's normal heartbeat occurs and the person's heart is unable to pump blood. When this happens, brain damage or even death can occur in as little as four minutes if the victim does not receive prompt treatment. The only treatment for cardiac arrest is defibrillation, or an electric shock which jolts the heart back into beating, administered within minutes of the patient collapsing.

Community Hospital, in collaboration with the American Heart Association, launched its community defibrillator program in the summer of 2003, donating 20 automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) to key locations throughout the community including the Big Sur Health Clinic, Seaside Family Health Center, and three State of California lifeguard vehicles that patrol local beaches. Recipients are trained in CPR and the use of AEDs.