HEALTH AND SAFETY
Every Second Counts W
hat a glorious day for a game of golf! The foursome arrives early The Heart and Stroke in the morning with clubs polished and ready. As they enter the Foundation of Canada clubhouse sharing a few laughs, tragedy strikes. Andy collapses to the notes that improved ground and appears to have stopped breathing. Chances are he only designs have made them has minutes to live. “safe and easy to use by According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, up to 40,000 people with little or no cardiac arrests occur each year in Canada. That’s one cardiac medical background”. arrest every 12 minutes. Without rapid and appropriate treatment, Recreational facility staff, most of these cardiac arrests will result in death. Thousands of instructors, and even family lives could be saved through public access to automated external members can use today’s AEDs. defibrillators (AED’s). Being involved in a situation As many as 85 per cent of all cardiac arrests occur in homes and when someone around you experiences public places (Vaillancourt & Stiell, 2004). sudden cardiac arrest After more than 12 minutes of can be frightening. When ventricular fibrillation, the survival rate you combine CPR/AED training with from cardiac arrest is less than five per having one or more AEDs available on Recreational facility staff, cent (Hazinski et al, 2004). site, the odds greatly improve for the For every one minute delay in instructors, and even family members person’s survival. defibrillation, the survival rate of a cardiac If an AED cannot be easily reached can use today’s AEDs. arrest victim decreases by seven to 10 per by emergency services within four cent (Larsen et al, 1993). minutes, it’s worth developing an Combined with CPR, the use of an AED program. How many devices AED may increase the likelihood of should you have? Where should they be located? Who should survival by 75 per cent or more (Weisfeldt et al, 2010). have training on how to use them? These are critical decisions to Okay, there are a lot of abbreviations here. But in Andy’s make so that you are prepared when every second counts. situation—or perhaps someone you know—AEDs and CPR have How prepared are you for such an incident? ■ life and death ramifications. What you should be aware of is that approximately 85 per cent of SCA incidents occur outside of a Please note that the above information in no way is intended as a training health care setting. guide on how to do CPR and use an AED. Proper certified instruction from An AED is a portable, easy-to-use device that analyzes the an authorized vendor is advised. heart rhythm of a person in cardiac arrest. If it detects a shockable rhythm, the user is instructed to press a button to deliver a shock. This stops the heart in the hopes of allowing it to restart at a Bob Forsyth, CSP normal rhythm. If a shockable rhythm is not detected, no shock OMNI SAFETY SOLUTIONS is given and the user must perform CPR. The AED units will Aurora, Ontario go back to the analyzing mode every two minutes (CPR is being Email: bob@omnisafetysolutions.ca done in between the analyzing mode) and it will continue to assess Tel: 905-252-1234 whether or not to deliver a shock.
David C. Smith, P.Ag., C.G.C.S. Soil & Turfgrass Consultant (7645)
Office (705) 687-SOIL Fax (705) 687-3518 Cell (905) 512-6004
24
550 Musquash Road Gravenhurst, Ontario P1P 1R2 (8873)
Toll Free 1-888-607-TURF dave@dcsturf.com