Learning How to Save a Life

Heart attacks happen anywhere and with no warning. Properly trained bystanders can save a life by keeping a victim’s heart pumping until aid arrives. At AIE, we want to do everything we can to keep our students, staff, neighbors, and visitors safe and secure.

On February 24th, AIE faculty and staff (plus one student!) at the Seattle campus took a certified CPR/AED course through the American Heart Association. This course taught the guidelines of how to react in an emergency brought about by sudden cardiac arrest in adults, how to assess the victim, and how to take control of a scene by generating help from others.  Sudden Cardiac Arrest is the leading cause of death in men and women, and has held this ignominious title since 1921!

CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), is designed to compress the victim’s chest to a depth adequate enough to generate the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart and brain while waiting for the arrival of an automated external defibrillator (AED). The course focused on the urgency to step in quickly when someone falls victim to this sudden traumatic event.  There was significant emphasis on reading the signs associated with cardiac arrest and beginning CPR immediately when called for. If an AED can arrive on scene within a four minute window, there is an improved chance that the automated machine will be able to restore a normal heartbeat in the victim. Successful survival is highly dependent on the use of the AED within the early phase of cardiac arrest.

At the conclusion of the course, AIE faculty and staff were put in life-like situations dependent on each other to make emergent decisions during a moment of cardiac arrest. Teamwork was a primary emphasis when confronted with a medical emergency and the necessary steps for immediate aid to the victim. The course of action was: early recognition, initiation of medical assistance, effective cpr and AED, hospital medical care.

With their renewed knowledge, the AIE staff is better equipped to help in a cardiac emergency for anyone on or off campus. When we say that there’s a lot of heart at AIE, sometimes we’re being completely literal!

Article by David Johnson