Page 14 - Occupational Health & Safety, September 2019

AED/CPR
It’sTimetoSave
How CPR and the AED can save time and lives.
BY DAVE TOBIN
Maybe it is human nature or maybe it is just me, but it seems like we like to make our houses and cars as safe we can. We change the batteries in our smoke de-
tectors twice a year. We make sure that we have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and that we have a carbon monoxide (CO) detector in the house. We plan for safety at our homes and that is a good thing. But what about at work?
Do we take it as seriously as we do at home? Most of our workplaces are equipped with smoke and fire protection systems and we are confident that they are in working order. What about a first aid kit? What about the AED? Do you know where it is and how to use it?
AED stands for automated external defibrillator. When the AED is used in conjunction with cardio- pulmonary resuscitation, a person that suffered car- diac arrest has the best chance for recovery. You can think of CPR and the AED as an extension of emer- gency medical services (EMS), and EMS is an exten-
sion of the emergency room. Basically, the tools you have in the workplace can be a factor in someone sur- viving cardiac arrest or not.
This article is intended to describe what cardiac arrest is, and how CPR and the AED can increase chances of survival. The purpose is to simply bring awareness to the CPR in the workplace. This article is not intended to be a form of training or certification.
What is Cardiac Arrest?
The typical heart rate of an adult is between 60 to 100 beats per minute. The rate is slower when someone is at rest or sleeping and the rate will increase under stress, pain, or exertion. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart loses its ability to beat in a coordinated rhythm and shivers or quivers in the chest. This con- dition is called ventricular fibrillation, or V-fib for short. The victim will not be breathing and appears to be unconscious. If the victim is talking or breathing regularly CPR is not to be performed and the AED should not be used.
When the heart is having an episode of V-fib, blood is not leaving the heart and there will be no pulse. The heart is having a massive electrical malfunction (more on that in a minute). CPR is when someone com- presses the sternum or breastbone of the victim to use manual force to get the victim’s heart to push blood to the body and lungs. It is not as effective as a normal heart beat, but some blood will be circulated. We want the blood to be distributed and returned to the entire body, especially the brain. Brain death occurs within four to six minutes without oxygen.
In an ideal workplace setting, employees are trained in CPR and know how to use the AED. The AED is a machine that can survey the victim’s heart and verify if the victim is indeed in V-fib or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (V-tach) Pulseless V-tach is V- fib’s partner, for lack of a better word. They both create chaos in a heart and cause sudden cardiac arrest.
The AED will only deliver an electrical shock under these two conditions, V-fib and V-tach. Have you ever watched a medical show on television and the patient “flatlines?” The doctor will then take out the paddles and shock the heart, right? Defibrillation will not be effective for a heart that does not have an existing form or electricity like V-fib or pulseless V- tach. That is why time and training are so important. The longer a victim is experiencing V-fib or V-tach, the electrical activity in the heart, even though it is uncoordinated, will decrease. Because remember, the heart is not getting oxygen either.
14 Occupational Health & Safety | SEPTEMBER 2019
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