By Roy Gordon, AHA BLS instructor/ EMT Updated February 20, 2025
The average response time for the Fire Dept. or an ambulance to arrive at the front door of a business, or a residence is eight minutes. For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation a persons chance of survival decreases by 7–10% [1]. By the time EMTs arrive in eight minutes if bystander CPR and use of an AED did not occur a person is only left with a 20% chance of survival.
Brain damage will occur in as little as 4 to 6 minutes without blood flow, so compressions have to be initiated almost immediately. However, if you are by yourself, and you have already called 911 using the AED first will most likely bring them back to life immediately. CPR buys a victim time until the AED arrives, so if you are lucky enough to have a defibrillator, use it first!
A pilot program at Duke university is studying the effectiveness of drones delivering AEDs in 48 rural counties of North Carolina. These drones can deliver AEDs in less than five minutes to a remote location giving a person nearly a 50% chance to survive. “Being able to deploy those devices on-demand via drone to areas where they are lacking could make a big difference.” Monique Stark, MD, working in collaboration with Nicole Redmon, MD.
While the outcome is looking much more positive for future survival rates, sadly, current survival rates for Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in The US are less than 10%. Even worse, if you live in New York City where the majority of people live in high-rise buildings you only have a 2 to 3% chance of surviving. Now, let’s look at how things are getting dramatically better!
Seattle was the first city to implement AEDs in public places and they have achieved a 30% survival rate from SCA. Also, companies in Silicon Valley have also attained a 30% survival rate from SCA. These companies are dedicated to placing AEDs throughout their business, and often pay for their employees to take a group CPR class.
The most likely place to find an AED in a public place is by the restrooms in shopping malls, airports, casinos, sporting arenas, and just recently in stores like CVS, target, Home Depot, and Walgreens. In an emergency when somebody stops breathing have someone call 911, and send others to ask the front desk, or the manager where the nearest AED is located.
The highest Survival rates from cardiac arrest in the world are in airports and casinos were you have a 70% chance to survive cardiac arrest. In California gyms, yoga studios, and pilate Studio’s are required to have an AED, so survival rate from there are sure to be staggering, as well.
Once you have taken a CPR class when you see AEDs in public places you can be confident that you know how to operate it. they are clearly marked at eye level in a white cabinet with the international logo for an AED on the glass (a heart with a Lightning bolt through it.)
Having the opportunity to practice with an AED trainer In an AHA CPR certification class will give you the confidence, and skill to operate an AED, and perform CPR if needed. To operate an AED you simply turn it on and follow the prompts. An AED will only advise to deliver a shock if a person requires it, so they are completely safe, and will not allow you to deliver a shock to a person who has a normal heart rhythm.
If bystander CPR was initiated more consistently, and if AEDs were more widely available every city could achieve a 20% survival rate from cardiac arrest, and an estimated 40,000 more lives could be saved each year. Early CPR and rapid defibrillation with early advanced care can result in high long-term survival rates for witnessed cardiac arrest [I]
An AED is a sophisticated computer capable of delivering a shock and saving a life. AEDs are still expensive, priced between $1000-$3500 and unfortunately in fifteen years they don’t seem to be coming down in price like televisions, or cell phones. This is unfortunate since the higher cost is not helping to increase survival rates from SCA.
Sadly, nearly 74% of all cardiac arrests happen at home where AEDs are rarely found. Someday people will have AEDs in their home just like they have a fire extinguisher or first aid kit, and with more people becoming certified in CPR survival rates will soar.
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references provided by:
The American Heart Association
