L ET’ S TA LK S A FE TY This column addresses safety issues of interest to water and wastewater personnel, and will appear monthly in the magazine. The Journal is also interested in receiving any articles on the subject of safety that it can share with readers in the “Spotlight on Safety” column.
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CPR and AEDs Can Save Lives
udden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the unforeseen and unexpected loss of heart function, breathing, and consciousness. An SCA occurs when the heart’s electrical function—its ventricular fibrillation—is interrupted and stops the heart from pumping blood. It can also occur with a heart attack, which occurs when blood flow to a portion
of the heart is blocked. Either way, without medical attention, the victim will die. Of the nearly 300,000 people in the United States who suffer an out-of-hospital SCA, 92 percent die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What survivors have in common are early intervention with cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) and an automatic external defibrillator (AED), followed by rapid delivery of appropriate care—usually a trip to the emergency room. An SCA can be caused by: S H eart attack and other cardiac conditions S E lectrocution S A sphyxiation (loss of consciousness and death caused by inadequate oxygen in the work environment, such as in a confined space) S T rauma, drowning, overdose, primary respiratory arrests, anaphylactic shock, and other noncardiac conditions Many victims have no prior history of heart disease and are stricken without warning.
Remember the Four Cs When someone goes down and suddenly loses consciousness, think CCCC: Clear, Check, Call, and Compress. S Clear the area of other safety hazards. Make sure that the victim and you are safe from further harm. S Check the victim for responsiveness. Has he stopped breathing or is he gasping irregularly for air? Does he respond at all to a hard slap on the shoulder blades? S Call for help. If someone else is around, tell her to call 911 and find the nearest AED, if one is available. An AED provides an electric shock that can restore normal rhythm to a heart in ventricular fibrillation. S Compress the chest hard and fast. Push straight down on the lower sternum, using one hand on top of the other at the rate of 100 times a minute. Compressions are the most important part of CPR. Recent American Heart Association The 2020 Let’s Talk Safety is available from AWWA; visit www.awwa.org or call 800.926.7337. Get 40 percent off the list price or 10 percent off the member price by using promo code SAFETY20. The code is good for the 2020 Let’s Talk Safety book, dual disc set, and book + CD set.
48 July 2021 • Florida Water Resources Journal
