Inside Iowa State

February 11, 2005

Saving lives on campus through early defibrillation

by Samantha Beres

Shaving minutes off the response time to a cardiac arrest victim can mean life or death. As an Emergency Medical Technician for 19 years, Frank Peters, associate professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, knew this well when he set out to raise funds for and train people on a new defibrillator located in Black Engineering.

Frank Peters, associate professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, helped raise funds for and train people on a new defibrillator located in Black Engineering. He would like other buildings on campus to have a defibrillator. Photo by Bob Elbert.

"The only saves of cardiac arrest victims that I've personally dealt with were those that had the benefit of early defibrillation," he said. "We're just trying to shave three or four minutes off the medical response time."

And three or four minutes, in this case, is a lot. According to the American Heart Association, every minute a cardiac arrest victim goes without defibrillation the odds of survival drop 7 to 10 percent. In a matter of five minutes, a victim plummets to a 50-50 chance of surviving.

Yearly, 400,000 people suffer cardiac arrest; only about 5 percent survive. Cardiac arrest is when someone's heart has stopped beating, which could be the result of a heart attack. Not all heart attacks lead to cardiac arrest.

According to ISU public safety sergeant Joel Swanson, it can take anywhere from four to five minutes for an ambulance to reach a cardiac arrest victim on campus. A 911 call made from a campus phone first goes to the department of public safety (DPS). DPS then calls Mary Greeley and usually the fire department.

"They have a relatively good response to us. However, if it's a case in which they don't know exactly where the building is, or the right entrance, that's where early defibrillation is going to make a big difference," Swanson said.

DPS had its first save due to early defibrillation in January 2004 when an officer used the defibrillator in his squad car. Defibrillation units are in five marked police cars, State Gym, Forker and Lied Center.

Still, Swanson and Peters agree that more buildings should have them. Swanson points out that all campus officers may be busy when an emergency arises.

"I hope other buildings will get jealous and get their own," said Peters, who added that airports and many other public buildings are starting to get defibrillators.

Sixteen ISU employees who work in Black Engineering are trained on the machine. The group includes faculty, as well as staff in administrative support, computer support, academic advising and telecom. The training -- CPR and Public Access Defibrillation -- takes a total of three hours.

"Some people were apprehensive going into the class," Peters said, "but felt confident afterward. The technology makes it easy."

Support for the purchase of the machine was broad-based, from faculty, staff and departments. The defibrillator -- with case, battery and extra supplies -- costs about $2,400.

For more information on how to buy a defibrillator and the training needed to use one, contact Swanson or visit American Heart Association's Web site at http://www.americanheart.org.

On buying a defibrillator and the training needed to use one, contact Swanson or visit American Heart Association's Web site at http://www.
americanheart.org.