The National Safety Council''s First Aid Institute has launched a newly revised Automated External Defibrillation (AED) program designed to save lives in cases of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
SCA is one of the leading causes of death around the world. Nearly 225,000 Americans are victims of SCA each year, many at young age.
The newly revised AED program teaches the skills that help save lives, according to NSC.
Written to "keep it simple," the program instructs students in the key operating characteristics of AEDs as well as why they work, maintenance techniques and special operating considerations.
Focusing on the five essential elements of responding to an emergency, this program takes users through scene control, patient assessment, cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) integration, AED application and protocol adherence.
An instructor teaching package, which contains a student manual, an instructor''s resource manual, video and slides, enables instructors to train students.
The approximate length of the program is two-and-a-half hours. A student text is required for each student taking the course.
NSC''s AED program is offered in three different ways: Instructor development course, on-site training and classroom.
If you are currently certified to teach other first aid, CPR and AED programs, you may be pre-qualified as an NSC instructor. If you are not currently certified as an instructor, NSC''s AED instructor development course is available near you.
To learn more about AED classes, on-site training or NSC''s AED instructor development courses, visit the council''s Web site at www.nsc.org/training/index.cfm.
by Virginia Sutcliffe