Here's a crazy story you may have missed:
On February 19, a company in Hedron, Ohio installed an AED in their office. They would later say that it was something they did as a “just in case” measure, just sticking with the “Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it” mentality.
Turns out, they needed it pretty badly.
Later that SAME DAY, Jackie Bartley, 41, was in a meeting with some of his co-workers when he realized that something was wrong.
The next thing he knew, he woke up on the floor.
Bartley had suffered a heart attack, and had it not been for the AED that was installed just hours before, there's a good chance that he wouldn't have survived it.
But it wasn't just the AED. Let's not forget Bartley's coworkers. They had the presence of mind to begin CPR and use the new AED, which may not sound too incredible until you realize that they hadn't even been trained on it yet.
That's right. The AED training was scheduled for the following week. Unfortunately, cardiac arrest isn't polite enough to wait around.
Not only did they react correctly, they reacted quickly. They managed to restart Bartley's heart before paramedics arrived.
So what's the lesson here?
Simple. You never know when an AED will save someone's life.
Sudden cardiac arrest doesn't give any sort of advance notice as to when it's going to hit. There's not a “heart attack season” or any kind of “safe period.” Sudden cardiac arrest is just that: sudden.
Having an AED on scene is just the right thing to do, plain and simple. You never know exactly when you might need it. You may need it today, you may need it tomorrow, or you may need it a year from now.
Or, who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky and you'll never need it.
But are you really willing to bet someone's life on it?