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SVMH gives 100th defibrillator
Life-saving device donated to Eden Valley

The Salinas Californian

RICHARD GREEN/THE SALINAS CALIFORNIAN

Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System’s HeartSave Program on Tuesday placed its 100th automated external defibrillator (AED) at Eden Valley Care Center, a retirement facility in Soledad.

The HeartSave Program has placed AEDs in all public and private Monterey County high schools, as well as local businesses, organizations and public centers. In addition to placing AEDs, the HeartSave Program also assists organizations in implementing emergency procedures, training and education regarding defibrillators in each location.

Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when an abnormal rhythm causes the heart to suddenly stop pumping blood. AEDs deliver an electrical shock to the heart to restore a normal rhythm. With every minute that passes without defibrillation, the chance of surviving sudden cardiac arrest diminishes by 10 percent. Sudden cardiac arrest kills more than 250,000 Americans each year – more than breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and AIDS combined.

The average age of a sudden cardiac arrest victim is 65, although each year approximately 5,000 to 7,000 children die. The average U.S. survival rate for victims of sudden cardiac arrest is less than 7 percent.

However, in communities with active AED programs, that survival rate is as high as 49 percent.

Salinas Valley Memorial’s HeartSave Program is also working with the Police Chief Association to get AEDs in every patrol car in Monterey County, since patrol car response time is an average of four minutes less than emergency medical services response time.

Originally published September 1, 2005