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Develop/ Integrate/ AED Policy
Some facilities already have well developed policies for responding to
medical emergencies. If so, it is fairly easy to integrate the use of
AEDs into this policy. If no such policy exists, you will need to develop
one and make sure that it is well communicated. Elements of this policy
should include:
- The specific location(s) of the AED within the
facility.
- Some method to internally announce the location
and nature of an emergency. This may be via phone, public address
system or radio and may include some key phrase that indicates a cardiac
arrest.
- Specification of who will respond in the event of
an emergency. If an emergency response team has been organized, members
of this group should respond. If no team exists, responders may consist
entirely of staff trained in the use of CPR and AEDs. It should be made
clear that only people who have completed AED training should attempt to
use the AED.
- The roles of those who respond. The two most
critical steps are that the external EMS system is activated and that
someone with an AED who can also perform CPR arrives quickly. It is
good to over plan. If there are two AEDs in the facility, it’s better
that they both arrive at the emergency than that neither shows up. Also,
better to call 911 twice than to not call at all.
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It
only really takes two people to work on the cardiac arrest victim–one to
perform CPR and one to attach and use the AED. In a pinch, one person can
fulfill both functions. Other team members may be assigned to lead the
ambulance from the nearest main road to the closest entrance. Others may
help in controlling the crowd of people that inevitably show up.
- Consider all areas of the property where a cardiac emergency
may occur. Your team may have to respond to the extreme ends of your
facility or even out of doors. Some facilities have divided their
facilities into sectors so that (for example) responders closest to the
incident retrieve the AED and begin CPR while those farthest away, perform
secondary rescue functions. Such a strategy works well when the members
of the response team work at stationary locations in the facility.
Identifying two people from each sector should provide an adequate
response in the event of an emergency.
- Maintenance of the AED should also be covered. This topic
is considered more fully in a later section of this site.
- Samples of policies developed for school districts are
included under the school AED section of this website. You may be able to
apply parts of them to your facility.
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