Automated External Defibrillators Can Save Lives During Cardiac Emergencies
If you look around an office building, a restaurant, a shopping center, or most public buildings, you may notice a small box hanging on the wall labeled “Emergency Defibrillator.” Inside this box is an AED, an automated external defibrillator. An AED provides an electric shock to a person experiencing cardiac arrest. While AEDs come in many different shapes and sizes, depending on the manufacturer, the basic components of every AED are a charging box with a lithium battery and an electrode pad to that delivers the electric charge to the person in need.
Fortunately, most AEDs that you see will never be used. However, The University of North Carolina School of Medicine is not taking any chances. Even though the majority of their 18 medical school buildings are within a stone’s throw of the world-class UNC Hospitals, they are installing an AED on the main floor of every building that does not already have one.
Paula Miller, MD, Associate Professor and Director of UNC Cardiac