We know that for every minute after a person’s heart stops from cardiac arrest there is a 10 percent drop in the survival rate, but did you know that AEDs used in conjunction with CPR feedback devices may further reduce survival rates, because CPR must be stopped to place the CPR feedback pads? The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada has recommended that AEDs are put in place to ensure that a life-saving shock can be administered within three minutes of a person’s heart stopping. When this 3 minute drop-to-shock time is achieved, greater than 70% of patients survive. Prior to the introduction of AEDs in public and work places, the survival rate was less than 5%.
