When someone’s heart suddenly stops beating, every minute without defibrillation and CPR lowers the chance of survival by nearly 10%. When a bystander uses an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) on a person in cardiac arrest, their likelihood of survival doubles. Medstar recognizes community AED placement as the most important component of increasing cardiac arrest survival throughout its nine-county service area.
Medstar has provided mini-grants to purchase AEDs for local civic, educational, and religious facilities for the past eight years and is now inviting the community to support the program’s expansion. The Medstar Shock and Save Initiative is designed to:
•Measurably increase cardiac arrest survival throughout Medstar’s emergency service area
•Increase AED access and utilization
•Increase CPR and AED training
•Support community leaders in local efforts to increase cardiac arrest survival and expand community CPR/AED training and AED ordinances
Developing a community AED program is the most impactful effort a community can pursue to affect survival from cardiac arrest. The more AEDs we can get into the community, the more lives will be saved. Medstar has provided funding for community AED placement for several years. With the new Shock and Save Initiative, we invite our healthcare, community, and business partners to join us in providing even more AEDs throughout the region.
To kick off the Shock and Save Initiative, Medstar is hosting two golf outings:
•September 10 at 10 a.m. – Sugarbush Golf Club, 1 Sugarbush Drive, Davison
•September 13 at 10 a.m. – Selfridge Golf Club, 27857 S. Perimeter R.d, Harrison Twp.
Funds raised will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Medstar and will go toward purchasing and distributing AEDs in Medstar’s service area.
For registration and sponsorship information, visit www.medstarambulance.org/aedgolf. And visit www.medstarambulance.org/aed to learn more about this life-saving initiative.
Since 2015, Medstar has donated AEDs to schools, churches, and other nonprofit and civic organizations and trained over 1,900 people in CPR free of charge. A recent study found investing in AEDs was the most effective way to improve out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates. A $1 million investment translates into more than a hundred lives saved.
—Kolby Miller,
Medstar CEO
