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Heart Safe Communities program closing in on goals for safer communityThe placement of Automatic External Defibrillators in area communities by the New Ulm Medical Center’s Heart Safe initiative is slowing to a trickle. It is a campaign that Heart Safe Communities Coordinator Lori Burkhart, RN, said has been “tremendously successful.” When the placement of AEDs began two years ago, the goal was to place 18 of them in area schools and public buildings. To date, 61 AEDs have been placed, not only in New Ulm but in several surrounding communities. The life-saving devices were placed in government buildings, schools, churches, non-profit organizations and local businesses. Burkhart partially attributes the success of the project to the increased awareness of sudden cardiac arrest as the public saw the AEDs being placed in the community. “The fact is, for every minute your heart does not beat following a sudden cardiac arrest, your chances of survival decreases ten percent,” Burkhart said. Sudden cardiac arrest kills 95% of its victims where an AED is not available. NUMC Foundation Director Carisa Buegler said that the involvement of the Foundation to help finance most of the AED placements was key. “Many individuals donated to the foundation specifically for the placement of AEDs in the community,” Buegler said. “We were overwhelmed by the community’s support which contributed to the program’s success.” Fortunately, Burkhart said, it has not been necessary to use any of the AEDs that have been placed. “I like to equate it to a fire extinguisher. You hope you never have to use it, but you are glad it’s there when you do need it,” she said. Burkhart added that the AEDs that are carried by local law enforcement are used anywhere from 8 to 15 times a year. Now that the majority of AEDs have been placed in the community, the Heart Safe Communities initiative is beginning the next leg of its mission, Buegler explained. “Under the leadership of the Medical Center’s Community Focus Committee, our goal is to decrease the number of deaths by sudden cardiac arrest not only by placing AEDs in our community, but also by training members of our community in CPR and how to use an AED,” Buegler said. “To accomplish this, we have outlined an aggressive plan. By 2011, we plan to have over half the members of our community between the ages of 12 and 75 – an estimated 5,000 individuals – trained to perform CPR and know how to use an AED so that they can respond to a cardiac emergency.” In addition to plans for offering four mass CPR trainings per year, Heart Safe Communities hopes to make “CPR Anytime” kits available to community members. These kits, which retail for about $30 each, include a 20 minute video and an inflatable mannequin that allows the user to learn CPR in the privacy of their own home. “The overall intent of distributing these kits is to train people who are less likely to come to a mass CPR training, but are more likely to have to perform CPR – such as senior citizens,” Buegler said. “For each kit that is purchased and distributed, the expectation would be that the recipient of the kit will train up to six additional people.” To accomplish this next set of goals, Buegler said, Heart Safe needs partners and funding. “We at New Ulm Medical Center can’t accomplish this alone,” Buegler said. “We are looking to grow our community partnerships with organizations that believe CPR training is a top priority for the health of our community. We are also applying for grants that can help us accomplish this important goal.” Buegler concluded that the goal of training 5,000 community members and placing AEDs directly aligned with the Mission, Vision and Values of the New Ulm Medical Center. “Part of our vision is to lead collaborative efforts that solve our community’s health care challenges,” Buegler said. “And with sudden cardiac arrest being a leading cause of death, that sounds like a significant challenge worth tackling!”  Back to Health Edition |
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New Ulm Medical Center
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