What to know to save a life: The key to cardiac arrest survival

Bystander training on spotting and using defibrillators can greatly improve cardiac arrest survival, but many people don’t know what to do.

When a woman collapsed on an escalator at the Buffalo airport last June, Phil Clough knew what to do. He and another bystander put her flat on her back and checked her pulse and her breathing. Then she stopped breathing altogether. Realizing that she might be having a cardiac arrest, Clough immediately started doing chest compressions, pressing hard and quickly on the center of her chest, while others nearby called 911 and ran to get an automated external defibrillator. Within seconds of receiving a shock from the AED, the woman opened her eyes. By the time the airport rescue team arrived a few minutes later, she was conscious and able to talk with rescuers.

Filed Under: News, Highlights | Tagged With: AED, CPR, cardiac arrest, Defibrillator, Defibrillator Registry, Michelle Andrews, Phil Clough, 911, Automated External Defibrillator, Automated External Defibrillator Registry, American Heart Association, AHA, AED Locations, Cardiac Arrest Stats, Identifying AEDs, NEAR Registry, Nearby AED, 911 AED Registry, National AED registry, National Emergency AED Registry, AED Registry, AED Response, AED Responder, AED Map, PulsePoint AED, PulsePoint AED Registry, Elijah White, ZOLL, CPR Training, Good Samaritan, AED Law, AED Training, Citizen CPR Foundation, citizen responder, HEARTsafe, 911 Telecommunicators, T-CPR, T-AED, AED-Needed Alerts