Sometimes transparency can save lives.
Contra Costa Health Services is urging owners of automated external defibrillators in the county to register the lifesaving devices and mark them available for public access to be used in cardiac arrests.
The county health department knows about 800 AEDs in the county. Pam Dodson, prehospital care coordinator with the Emergency Medical Services Division of Contra Costa Health Services, estimates there are at least 200 more out in the public and not registered.
To see if you have registered your AED, see this web page or call (925) 313-9547.
CCHS has a podcast that delves into the issue.
Here are more excerpts from a Contra Costa Health Services news release:
Registering the device is state law, said Pam Dodson, Prehospital Care Coordinator with the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division of Contra Costa Health Services. By marking it as public, she said, a new information system called AED Link will notify owners of AEDs if their lifesaving device is within 1,200 feet of a reported sudden cardiac arrest victim…
“It is incredibly tragic to hear about cardiac arrest victims who did not receive the help of an AED when one was nearby—sometimes in the same building,” Dodson said. “During a 9-1-1 call, AED Link instantly identifies the location of all registered AEDs near a reported sudden cardiac arrest victim. It then automatically calls or texts volunteer responders requesting that they bring their AED to the victim hopefully in time to save their life.”
