Tag Archives: AED’s

First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Health Issues

PROTECTING HEALTH AND SAFETY WITH AED’S AND MEDICAL ALERT SYSTEMS (GUEST POST)

After a bad night working second shift, Joe feels too keyed up to go straight to bed – but a workout at his 24/7 gym sounds like a great idea! 
He swipes his member card, changes into gym clothes, and jumps on the treadmill.  It’s great to be there alone – until the chest pains start.  Joe staggers towards the locker room where his phone is safely tucked into his pants pocket – but he doesn’t make it.  By the time the early morning crew arrives, it’s too late to call for help.

This isn’t just a personal and family tragedy: it can be a legal liability issue for any business that fails to take adequate safety measures to protect employees and customers.

Prepare For Medical Emergencies
If there’s a medical emergency at your business, do your employees know what to do?  What if no employees are present – or someone working alone suffers a fall or other emergency?  It’s not enough to just point out the first-aid kit during employee orientation because the most serious (and common) medical situations require more than a band-aid solution.

Heart attacks, for instance, are quite common.  According to OSHA, almost 900 people per day die from coronary heart disease in locations other than hospitals.  The federal safety agency estimates that up to 60% of the 6628 workplace deaths during 2001-2002 could have been prevented if the proper equipment had been on-site to help the injured person.  That’s why many federal, state, & even local laws require that public buildings and some private businesses maintain automated external defibrillators (AED) on site and train employees to use them.

Health clubs and similar facilities are most often the targets of state and local AED regulations for the simple fact that people go there primarily to exert themselves – sometimes they over-exert and become ill.  For instance:

•        In 2011, Kara Kennedy, sister of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, died of a heart attack after a workout at her health club.
•        In 2007, Massachusetts required all health clubs to have AEDs.  Even before the law took effect, Planet Fitness in Weymouth purchased one – and soon used it to revive a 36-year-old member who collapsed during a workout.
•        In 2011, a personal trainer in Illinois revived two people in two years using an AED.

And yet, some health clubs resist regulations that they feel are too restrictive.  When the Kingston, MA Board of Health required all health clubs to have an employee trained in the use of AEDs on hand during all business hours, the owner of a local 24/7 facility protested.  His facility was open to members, but unstaffed overnight. The owner explained that customers knew they were exercising at their own risk because they “sign contracts saying they take personal responsibility for use of the gym after staffed hours.”

Those contracts may not be enough. Even in the absence of government regulations, health clubs would be wise to take precautions to protect employees and patrons.  A 2004 article in Trial magazine explained that federal regulations “make it difficult for health clubs to argue that AEDs are not yet recognized as necessary safety devices or that there are legal obstacles to having or using them.”  The article provides tips to help other attorneys litigate these types of lawsuits.

Solo Employees & Customers Are At Greatest Risk In A Medical Emergency
Still, the club owner in Kingston did point out a flaw in the over-reliance on AEDs for safety: you can’t use one on yourself.  That puts both employees and customers at risk if only one person is present.  Think of convenience stores and gas stations that have just one person on duty or a health club where someone exercises alone late at night. That’s why many businesses are installing personal medical alert systems.

Health clubs typically place the medical alert console somewhere in the center of the facility and provide alert buttons for the patrons to carry with them during their workout. Typically, the medical alert devices attach to a belt, wristband, or are worn as a necklace.  They don’t impede mobility but do allow the person to push a button and call for help.  Bay Alarm Medical has worked with many companies to install these systems.

Unlike AEDs, there are no regulations requiring medical alert systems, but they can provide an important element of safety and security for employees and customers.  Workplace safety requires a combination of training, infrastructure, and equipment.  Many companies now find that maintaining a safe and secure workplace also means keeping up with the latest technology.

Written by Danielle Garza

First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Health Issues

UNDERSTANDING DEFIBRILLATORS (GUEST POST)

 A defibrillator is a life saving device that issues a electrical shock to the heart in some cases of cardiac arrest. This process is called defibrillation and can help save lives. Cardiac arrest happens when the heart stops pumping bloody around the body. At this time it is critical that defibrillation happens as soon as possible.

This electrical shock depolarizes a critical mass of the heart muscle, terminates the arrhythmia, and allows the natural rhythm  of the heart to be re-established by the body’s organic pacemaker, in the sinoatrial node of the heart.

According to the British heart foundation for every minute that a patient is not giving defibrillation their chances of survival decrease by 14 per cent. In fact research also show that’s providing a shock within five minutes of the patient collapsing provide the best chance of survival.

Defibrillators can come in many forms and sizes. These can be external, transvenous, or implanted. This will all depend on the device used. The most common devices are called automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and because they automate the defibrillation process, by automation of the treatable rhythms, meaning that bystanders or people with very little or no training at all can use them.

Because of the importance of the defibrillators and the low numbers available, it is vital that these devices are strategically placed within an area. These are often placed where an ambulance would find it difficult to get to –  i.e.,  placed with traffic congestion, poor infrastructure, or where large crowds gather.

Defibrillation was first successfully performed in 1899 by two physiologists in Switzerland. It was found that small electrical shocks could induce ventricular fibrillation in dogs. However, it wasn’t until 1933 that a serious alternative to injecting powerful drugs straight to the heart. Dr Albert Hyman came up with the invention of a hollow needle, an insulated wire to the heart to deliver the electrical shocks.

These days Defibrillators have come a long way from the Hyman days. In order to use the AED, the machine is turned on and then a voice prompt will instruct the rescuer on what to do. The voice prompts the rescuer to place the pads into position on the chest and these then detect if a shock is needed by reading activity in the heart.

Defibrillation should never be seen as an alternative to to CPR, which can help by time before defibrillation is needed. The British Heart Foundation state that if more GP surgeries were equipped with defibrillators that survival could be increased by up to 60 per cent if the patient is treated immediately after entering cardiac arrest.

AED’s are often placed in highly visible areas and it is not recommended that these should be placed in locked or code restricted cabinets as this makes them inaccessible in time of emergency where the time taken is of essence. AED’s are often brightly coloured, and are often encased in protective cases. When these protective cases are opened nearby staff are alerted by a buzzer. 

Neil Maycock is a writer for Martek Medical. Focusing on topics such as health and safety and first aid at work.

Thanks, Neil, for this information about defibrillators.  After having seen an AED demonstrated in a CPR class, the verbal coaching that it gives makes it easy for most persons to use.  As stated in your article, CPR should be the first attempt of life-saving.  Hopefully, AED’s are becoming more prominent at many venues, from sports, to school activities, to churches.  A heart attack can happen any time, any where. pb

First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues

OUR EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ARE READY, BUT ARE WE?

One never knows when an emergency will happen, and first aid is one of those things that we all hope we will never be called on to do, but should know in case of an accident.   From the business perspective, bringing a first aid trainer into the workplace can become part of a team-building exercise, as it encourages people to work together to learn for a common goal.  Staff can learn to identify dangerous situations before accidents happen.  This will have a significant impact on the bottom line – in terms of both human cost (lost time, Worker’s Comp claims, and administration time) and insurance and claims costs. 

Know-How (First Aid Precautions): 

1.      SAFETY is the first rule in first aid, (and common sense).  When assisting someone else do not become the second casualty.  Do not enter a burning building to rescue someone unless you are trained to do so, and if you do not swim, don’t enter deep water to rescue someone who is drowning.

2.      Avoid going beyond your training; make sure that you are not doing more harm than good. Leave the medical expertise to the Paramedics and Physicians.

3.      Stay away from medication unless the patient/casualty has their own medication prescribed by the doctor for the particular problem they are experiencing.

4.      Keep injuries to a minimum by knowing what to do when faced with an emergency – take a first aid or CPR course and learn how to save a life. 

It pays to keep first aid kits in your car, home, and at work.  Most workplaces have welll stocked first aid kits.  Kits should be full of supplies that are appropriate for location and planned activities.  It is a good idea for coaches of all sports for youngsters to keep a first aid kit at practice and games, and to know how to administer first aid.  Having an Automatic External Defibrillator, (AED) on site can be life-saving, from a sporting event to a church service.  One never knows when or where a heart attack can occur.  Check your first aid kit to see if it contains:

  •        Bandages
  •        Sterile gauze pads
  •        Alcohol pads
  •        Dressings
  •        Soap
  •        Saline
  •        Tweezers
  •        Disposable gloves
  •        Over the counter pain medications
  •        CPR pocket mask or face shield
  •        Aloe Vera gel
  •        Mixed sizes of safety pins.
  •        Sting relief
  •       Antibiotic ointment  

At work, be sure you know where the first aid kits are located and take a course in first aid if it is offered at your place of employment.  You never know when you may need it.  If you are going on a trip, it may be the most important thing you take with you.

Tomorrow, we will continue on this subject by discussing what to do when some of the most common accidents happen to us, either at work or home.  Please stay tuned……….