Protect Your Heart, Protect Your Home

We talk constantly about how important AEDs are in public access environments like schools, churches, and malls, but did you know that 88% of cardiac arrests occur at home? 

These at-home cardiac arrests aren’t just happening to the elderly or those with diagnosed heart conditions. A study presented at the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress found that 72% of sudden cardiac deaths in patients between 2 and 40 years old occurred at home. 74% of those deaths occurred in patients with no prior diagnosis of a heart condition.

Those figures combined with the fact that the average EMS response time in America is eleven minutes paints a grim picture for at-home cardiac arrest survival rates. CPR is very important to increase the patient’s chance of survival, but CPR alone means the patient still has less than a 10% chance of survival. If an AED is easily accessible, the survival rate skyrockets to between 50% and 90% based on a number of studies.

Having an AED in your home might seem like a radical notion, but we hope to see it become the way of the future since you never know who might fall prey to cardiac arrest when you least expect it. If you are interested in purchasing an AED for home use, we highly recommend the Philips HeartStart OnSite. It’s Philips’ newest model, and extremely user-friendly. Even better, we are offering recertified OnSites for only $675 throughout the month of November. This price includes pads, batteries, a carrying case, and a 3 year warranty. As you gear up for the holiday season, consider how you might take steps to prepare and protect your family or neighbors in the event of cardiac arrest.