DeFibAmerica - Fixing the broken link in the Cardiac Chain of Survival in Rural America
What is broken in the Rural Cardiac Chain of Survival?
No rural community can afford Ambulance coverage that is capable of three minute response time to all. Fire departments require all the equipment to be kept at the fire house, this delay of going to get the equipment causes minutes to turn to tens of minutes. Ten minutes is 100% dead! The cardiac chain of survival starts with recognizing the patient is not responsive. This should immediately trigger a call to 911. The 911 operators are trained to dispatch help and walk the caller through the 2nd step, CPR. Cardio Pulmonary Recitation keeps blood flowing to the brain and vital organs. This brings us the third link in the chain, it requires an AED, and that is our broken link. You can’t wish an AED on site.... We are working to fix this link. Next is advanced care and finally integrated post event care.
Fire Departments will continue with their deep fat fish fried fundraisers, and people will not change their diets or exercise, till they have the "Come to Jesus" moment with the AED responding Fast Responder saving their life, at that point they will listen to their physician, and modify their habits, eating right and exercising... DeFib American is going to give more people a chance to make the changes!
How to fix the Rural Cardiac Chain of Survival?
Dividing up counties into three square mile areas, positioning a Fast Responder in the middle with an AED and first aid kit, dispatching them from the 911 center (advances in Mapping and 911 call center software makes it easy to select the closes Fast Responder to the need). Each Fast Responder is backed up by eight other Fast Responders.
Fast Responders are trained (CPR/AED/First Aid) and have background checks.
Disposables used in a call are swapped out with the local EMS team (at the site of the call), so every Fast Responder is always ready.
If contact isn't made with the closes Fast Responder, calls go out to the next closes, till a positive dispatch is made (there are eight backups, each 5 minutes away).
Fast Responders that are also Volunteer Fire Fighters (and we expect many will be) can be dispatched using the current system (radio or pager).
20 minutes is 200% dead, 3 minutes gives rural America a Chance!
Every minute an AED is delayed, that is the 3rd link in the chain of Cardiac Survival, is 10% less chance of living another day.
American cities, airports, and businesses are deploying AED's, Automated External Defibrillators, with tremendous results. The best of the best are seeing 70% save rates. Thirty to Seventy percent save rates for sudden cardiac arrest to discharge from the hospital is a fantastic result of the AED technology being used in a very timely fashion. But in rural America it can take 20 minutes for an Ambulance to show up with an AED, that is 200% dead. Living in rural America doesn't have to be a death sentence. Rural American's have a long tradition of looking out for each other. When the Cows are out, we know who to call and often help get the cows back in the fenced pasture.
With today's ubiquitous 911 mapping dispatch systems, easy to use, low cost, AED technology; Cell and Texting systems, we can now deploy AED's in the hands of "FAST RESPONDERS" that is a neighbor willing and trusted by neighbors to give that lifesaving hand in the most urgent time of need, a cardiac arrest. DeFib America, Three Minutes to Defibrillation in Rural America, Inc. is working to change rural America... to bring live saving help in minutes, so Ambulance (EMT's and Paramedics) crews have a live patient to work with as they complete the chain of cardiac survival. All the best trained med-evac helicopters crews, EMT's, surgeons, and paramedics, will fail without the efforts of a Fast Responder with an AED arriving in minutes and giving CPR and heart regrouping shock.
Think of a tick-tack-toe grid, every Fast Responder is backed up by eight other Fast Responders to insure a volunteer is nearly always available, day and night. Each square represents a 3 x 3 mile area, with an AED/First Aid Kit equipped Fast Responder in the middle. They may never deploy, or they might be called on a couple times a year, but when the call comes they need to be trained and act, act to do the right thing when minutes count!