A new study has found that automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, improve survival rates for children who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting. Specifically, the study found that children who were treated with an AED by a bystander had a survival rate of just over 29 percent. To compare, children not treated with an AED had a 23.7 percent survival rate.
The study also found that older children are more likely to receive AED treatment than infants and preschoolers. Experts believe this is because older children more commonly go into cardiac arrest at places with defibrillators, like schools. In addition, bystanders may be afraid to perform CPR or use an AED on small children for fear of harming them.
AED Use Can Save Lives
While the findings of this study may seem obvious, these are important facts to note and discuss. More than 350,000 Americans experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital every year. About 7,000 of those are children. Raising awareness of the life-saving usefulness of AEDs may motivate more businesses to make them accessible, and more people to learn how to use them. In turn, more children will live past a cardiac arrest.
This research makes it clear: when bystanders use defibrillators on children in cardiac arrest, lives are saved. Our Minneapolis CPR/AED courses teach this life-saving skill to daycare providers, school teachers, parents and anyone who wants to be able to help people suffering cardiac emergencies.
HeartCert CPR is your trusted training partner for First Aid and CPR in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota. We now offer online, night and weekend classes to fit your busy schedule! We offer a variety of courses, including CPR/AED/First Aid and CPR/AED, Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), and Emergency Medical Responder – First Responder (EMR).
Find your CPR class at any of our convenient Twin Cities locations, including our new headquarters, HeartCert CPR Eagan.
