Oct 4, 2004 By Amy Karpinsky 5 min read

Despite a growing concern about the difficulties non-medical personnel have using Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) machines to save someone who goes into sudden cardiac arrest, Rick Adobato of Fayette EMS said the machines are self-explanatory. “If you can read one, two, three, you can work an AED,” he said. Adobato said he frequently teaches classes to people whose companies have purchased defibrillators to ensure that they are familiar with the machines if the need for one arises.

Locally, more and more of the machines are being found in public places. A few years ago, the Fayette County EMS Council began a quest to put a defibrillator within five minutes’ reach of every person in the county. To date, 55 units have been placed and the council is on the way to meeting its goal.

The machines, if used properly and quickly, can save someone who is suffering from a heart attack. According to information from the American Red Cross, the AEDs work by giving the heart a controlled electric shock that forces all the heart muscles to contract at once and hopefully jolt it back to a regular rhythm.

Historically, only trained medical professionals were able to interpret the heart rhythms on manual defibrillator devices, but today’s new AEDs use embedded computer chips to analyze the rhythms instantly and accurately, making it possible for non-medical professionals to administer the same service without risking an accidental shock.

Addio Fiordigigli, director of sales and first aid instructor with Life First, a Monessen company that sells AEDs, said most of the available machines today have “as many prompts as you need.” He said you just push a button and it tells you what to do. “The AED makes everything easier,” he said.

Although using the machine is easy, Fiordigigli acknowledges that there are times when people who have received minimal or no training should not attempt to use the machines because they do not react well to stressful situations. “What is normal can become difficult,” he said.

Regarding difficult situations, Fiordigigli added that fortunately Pennsylvania has one of the better Good Samaritan acts in the country. He said the act provides civil immunity for individuals who use the machines. He said that oftentimes one of the biggest barriers against people using the machines is the fear of liability.

Fiordigigli said because nationally there is only a 3- to 5-percent survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest victims, it is important to have AEDs in close proximity to where people congregate, such as work and social settings. Every minute that passes, the victim loses an additional 10 percent chance of survival. So, if it takes an ambulance five minutes to arrive, the victim only has a 50 percent survival rate.

He said while he can sell the machines, he can’t require that people be trained on them. However, Fiordigigli, who sold an AED to the Herald-Standard, said he will give a “buttonology,” to whomever purchases a unit from him. He said he will spend time telling the customer how the device works. In addition to the informal training, Fiordigigli said he recommends that anyone who may use the machine receive the three to four hours of recommended formal training.

Fiordigigli said as a paramedic, he did evaluations on each of the 13 or more devices that are available. He said most are “very, very user friendly.”

Melanie Boyd, corporate events director for the American Heart Association of Fayette County, said she believes having AEDs available could be the difference between life and death. She said she recently was very happy to see one in the Uniontown Mall.

Although Boyd said she believes the machines are easy to use, she said people need to be trained to ensure that they know how to use them. She said the training is needed by some people to give them the confidence needed to operate the machines in a stressful situation.

Boyd said she believes the devices should be distributed at places such as big businesses, malls, airports and schools. “It certainly saves lives,” she said.

Ted Mellors of Fayette County EMS Council said the local initiative to have the units within five minutes reach of every person in the county began after hearing of a program in neighboring Westmoreland County in which the AEDs were provided to fire departments and police departments. Mellors said the council then decided to initiate an active search for third party funding, which was successful thanks to the likes of Fay-Penn Economic Development Council and several local senators and state representatives.

Mellors said the cost was $2,600 per machine at first, but now the machines cost between $1,600 and $1,700 each. He said there is a certain procedure that is used in which everyone requesting a unit must fill out an application from the Emergency Medical Services Institute, an approved AED provider by the state Department of Health.

In order for the units to be turned over, Mellors said proof must be presented that individuals have been trained. He said the training must be updated every two years.

Since the units have been distributed, Mellors said there was one life saved in Smock. “They haven’t been used to the point we thought. Fortunately we haven’t seen as many sudden cardiac arrests,” he said.

To date, the council has fulfilled nearly all of the requests for units that it received. He said a unit will be delivered to Collier soon. “We have fulfilled all the requests from the South Connellsville Police Department to the Normalville Fire Department,” Mellors said. He said the next step is to take a look at the unserved areas. Mellors said all civic organizations can participate.