Page 100 - Occupational Health & Safety, September 2017

DEFIBRILLATORS & CPR
Emergency Medicine, said that “the data suggests these untrained employees may be relying on their untrained peers in the event of an emergency.”
This results in leaving employees “with a false sense of secu- rity that someone in the workplace will be qualified and able to respond, when that is clearly not the case,” said Kurz.
Safety Managers and the Value in Training
The second AHA-commissioned survey conducted in February and March of 2017 gathered responses from 1,052 environmental health and safety managers and human resource managers across a variety of industries, including manufacturing and construction.
The good news is that safety managers intrinsically value first aid or CPR+AED training in the workplace:
■ 78 percent of managers believe it is “very important” that employees receive the training.
■ Another 73 percent say they consider first aid, CPR + AED training equally important as other safety training.
■ More than one-third of managers believe more frequent first aid, CPR+AED training would be valuable.
■ More than 36 percent also felt it would be valuable to offer training more frequently than the current requirement that stipu- lates training every two years.
Safety managers also seemed highly aware of the impact of workplace training in and outside of employment hours:
■ About one-third of managers reported that a life had been saved both in and outside of the workplace due to proper first aid and CPR+AED training provided by their organization.
■ 75 percent reported that injuries or medical conditions were successfully treated in the workplace—and nearly half recalled a situation outside of the workplace—thanks to proper training.
But the decision of when to institute training was worrisome: 33 percent of managers stated that an incident in the workplace con- tributed to their decision to offer first aid and CPR+AED training. Instead of waiting for a serious incident that demonstrates the need for training, the AHA encourages business to proactively foster a safe work environment, one that empowers employees to assume small social responsibility that can have a large community impact.
If employees want the training and safety managers value it, what accounts for such a significantly under-trained American workforce? One aspect may be gleaned from the employee survey: More than half of the employee respondents feel that, even if an employer offers training, managers need to do a better job of com- municating its value internally.
Despite the training gaps, managers believe that training will increase. Two-thirds of managers feel training will become part of a larger culture of safety within organizations. And more than 30 percent are hopeful that attitudes toward training in the workplace are changing overall due to federal and state policy and regulatory requirements and the greater convenience of online training.
A Call to Action and a Powerful Response
As the world’s leading voluntary health organization devoted to fighting cardiovascular disease, the AHA sees these survey results as a powerful call to action.
More trained employees will mean thousands of co-workers every year will have an increased chance of surviving a cardiac
event in the workplace. But it is also worth noting that employees carry their training home with them, and they will also be prepared to help those outside the workplace. Because more than 350,000 Americans are victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year, this training will have a potent secondary effect.
“First aid, CPR, and AED training need to become part of a larger culture of safety within workplaces,” said Kurz. “We are cer- tainly seeing higher public interest in this training, and we are call- ing upon decision makers in workplaces and popular public spaces such as arenas, fitness centers, hotels, and churches to place AEDs in the same locations as a fire extinguisher.”
Nancy Holland of Kansas City, Mo., is someone who learned firsthand the value of a trained co-worker. She collapsed in January 2015 while at a restaurant in Kansas City, and employee Richmond Carson responded immediately with CPR. Holland now advocates training and public access to AEDs. Partly because of her advocacy, the law firm at which her husband is a partner installed AEDs in all of the firm’s 32 offices nationwide while providing CPR+AED training to all 700 employees.
“Had Richmond not seen the value in being trained, I might not have survived,” said Holland. “I can’t stress enough how important and empowering these trainings and the availability of AEDs are for people.”
Peter Fromm, MPH, RN, is an American Heart Association volun- teer, immediate past chair of the AHA’s Systems of Care Subcommit- tee, and administrator at the South Nassau Communities Hospital Center for Cardiovascular Health.
DESPITE LACK OF TRAINING,
EMPLOYEES SEE HIGH VALUE
IN HAVING MORE
The results from the two American Heart Association surveys provide insights into how U.S.-based industries and employees view the value of emergency training.
In one of the more curious findings, despite the lack of adequate training for responding to a cardiac emergency in the workplace, industry/labor employees nevertheless indicated a strong understanding of its importance and the desire for more.
Among the findings:
■ More than 90 percent stated that they believe that first aid and CPR+AED training is important to keep their work environments safe, with 87 percent believing it is simply the right thing to do.
■ Those in industry/labor are most likely than other sector respondents to believe that training is critical for their roles, with more than 60 percent saying it is very important.
■ And employees overwhelmingly want the train- ing, with 94 percent saying they would take first aid and CPR+AED training if it was offered in the workplace.
■ An impressive 70 percent said they would consid- er taking the training even if it was held outside normal working hours.
88 Occupational Health & Safety | SEPTEMBER 2017
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