Can you use an AED if a person suddenly collapses in front of you now?
March 10, 18:32
70,000 people nationwide die suddenly due to abnormalities in the heart such as myocardial infarction.
AEDs necessary for saving the lives of these people have become more widespread year by year, but the situation is now changing due to the corona disaster.
What would you do if a person suddenly collapsed in front of you?
Can immediate action save a person's life?
(Nagoya Broadcasting Station Yasuko Matsuoka / Network News Department Ayari Suzuki)
table of contents
1 Junior high school student saved the teacher
2 Corona sickness drastically reduced AED usage rate
3 Safe usage
4 How to save sports spectators
5 Approach with "pushing activity"
Junior high school saved the teacher
May 2021.
At a junior high school in Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture, my teacher suddenly collapsed while practicing club activities.
Sudden cardiac arrest.
However, the teacher survived.
It was the junior high school students who were there that saved his life.
I used the AED, which I had learned how to use in class, with the judgment that my heart was stopped
.
Takanori Koshikawa, 32, suddenly collapsed while practicing in the basketball club, which is his adviser.
Dr. Koshikawa
"I was practicing dribbling, blowing a whistle there, and giving instructions. At that time, I felt that my heart was fluttering."
Sohei Ono, a second-year student who was by my side, immediately rushed with his friends.
Sohei Ono
"" Is the teacher okay?
I shouted around my ears and face, but there was no reaction at all. It was obviously cold by touching my wrists, and then I checked my neck and eyes, and it was clearly wrong. Become"
I thought my heart had stopped, so I immediately started chest compressions (heart massage).
At the same time, another member ran to call 119, but it was just during the holidays and the staff room was locked.
The students ran out of school to borrow a phone.
However, the teacher's consciousness does not return during that time.
It was another third-year member who was smart.
I instructed the first graders to fetch the AED installed at the entrance of the gymnasium.
Two electric shocks were given according to the voice of the AED.
After that, I continued to compress my chest.
Only junior high school students desperately continued their lifesaving measures for more than 10 minutes before waiting for the arrival of the ambulance crew.
Mr. Koshikawa returned to work a month later.
She has no sequelae and she lives the same life as before.
Dr. Koshikawa
"The doctor asked me,'It's a miracle, did the junior high school students really do it?' But I feel that I'm really happy. Thank you very much. "
AED usage rate is high due to corona damage ...
However, something is happening around this AED.
It was 18 years ago, in July 2004, that the general public, who was not a healthcare professional, was able to use the AED in case of sudden cardiac arrest.
With the spread of AEDs, such as holding seminars in various places, more than 600,000 AEDs have been installed nationwide.
The “usage rate,” which indicates the percentage of people who collapsed in front of someone who received an electric shock treatment with an AED, has been on the rise year by year and exceeded 5% in 2019.
However, in Otoshi (2020), this usage rate began to decline, dropping to 4.2%.
The rate of decrease is also the largest ever.
The lifesaving rate is decreasing along with the AED usage rate.
In response to this situation, the Japan AED Foundation issued an urgent proposal in February.
"If someone collapses in front of you because of the corona, please use the AED and cooperate with lifesaving measures."
Why is the AED no longer used?
Dr. Yosuke Homma of the Japan AED Foundation suspects that the spread of the new corona may have an effect.
Dr. Homma
"The epidemic of the new coronavirus has increased the tendency to avoid contact with people, thinking that a fallen person may be infected with corona. Therefore, the usage rate of AED has not decreased. Is not it"
How to actually use it in Corona?
The Japan AED Foundation, which is promoting widespread use, states that AEDs can be used safely even in the case of corona.
Chest compressions performed before the AED arrives are detailed on how to prevent infection with the new corona.
▼ If you have a cloth, put a cloth on your mouth and nose before performing chest compressions.
▼ If you wear a mask, perform chest compressions as it is.
▼ Wash your hands and face if you take over to the emergency services.
Dr. Homma
"It is said that the risk of getting infected by using AED is low. I think that it is a big problem that there is no place to convey the correct knowledge. Please do not hesitate to use AED. I want you to use it with courage. There is a limit to what you can do alone, so I would like you to take a step forward by calling people. "
The Foundation also actively conducts online training.
It's you in the audience who carry the AED
And in January, a new initiative started in the field of sports.
It was named "RED SEAT" in an effort to decide in advance who will carry the AED in order to promptly deliver the AED in order to save the life of the person whose heart suddenly stopped in the audience seats.
The person sitting in the designated seat will be asked to know the location of the nearest AED in advance as "RED SEATER".
And in the unlikely event, have them take on the role of going to pick up the AED and carrying it.
Three years ago, three high school boys who love sports came up with the idea for this initiative.
Daigo Tanaka
"I thought that just carrying an AED by the staff would not be an enlightenment activity. It would be all passive. I thought that it would be an enlightenment activity if the audience was involved in something. I thought it would be great if we could create a system that would allow the audience to deliver the AED. "
It's been about 3 years since the idea.
After a demonstration experiment, we decided to adopt it as a new league by one team of the rugby professional league, League One, which has just started.
We introduced Kubota Spears Funabashi / Tokyo Bay.
Mitsuru Ishikawa, the head of the team and general manager, had a special feeling.
GM Ishikawa
"In 2009, there was a national team match under the age of 20 at the Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium. During the award ceremony after the victory was decided, the father of New Zealand's Zach Gilford, who was in the audience, was the heart I had a seizure. I was watching it in front of me. My dad died after that. "
Ishikawa GM
"It was an era when AEDs weren't very popular yet. When an ambulance came down and everyone was warm and didn't know what to do. I was watching it, so it's very important to rescue the audience. I thought it was, and I definitely decided to incorporate it. "
According to the Japan Rugby Union, an AED was already installed at the Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium at this time, but Mr. Ishikawa remembers that the AED was not used.
Furthermore, in 2019, the final of the Rugby World Cup Japan Tournament that caught Japan in a whirlpool of enthusiasm.
Immediately before the start of the match at Yokohama International Stadium, a foreigner in the audience collapsed due to a sudden cardiac arrest.
Fortunately, there was a doctor in the nearby spectators who was immediately treated with an AED and saved his life, but in a venue with more than 70,000 spectators, even a slight delay could be the worst. did.
On January 29th, the start of "RED SEAT" was the opening game of Kubota Spears' home.
On this day, a university student studying emergency lifesaving is in charge of the "RED SEATER" that carries the AED, and confirms the position of the AED before the match.
I checked how many minutes it would take to bring it to the audience, assuming that a person had fallen.
Since it is said that the lifesaving rate decreases by 10% for every 1 minute delay in the use of AED after cardiac arrest, this initiative aims to deliver AED within 2 minutes and use it within 3 minutes. ..
In the future, we aim to have the general audience serve as "RED SEATER".
Dr. Homma
"Currently, there are still few mechanisms to reduce sudden death by focusing on the audience seats. This" RED SEAT "is just a system, there is no need to buy anything, and it was originally installed in the stadium. The point is that there is no cost to use the existing AED. I think it is easy to introduce in various teams and various competitions. "
Approach with "pushing activity"
Chiba PUSH, an organization that is promoting the use of AEDs to make more people aware of the importance of using AEDs, is also collaborating with social games to approach people who have little connection with lifesaving.
We collaborated on a game called "Idol Master SideM" that simulates raising idols.
I noticed that one of the idols, the character "Ryu Kimura", has the title of a former firefighter.
Since September last year, we have held 17 face-to-face and online seminars for users using pamphlets containing illustrations of this character.
As a result of presenting a class participation certificate with an illustration of an idol to the participants, fans who were interested in the fact that their familiar "push" is publicizing have taken the course so far, 600 people More than one person learned how to use AED.
In fact, some people helped save the lives of people who suddenly collapsed at the station as a result of attending the seminar.
Dr. Homma
"This is my first attempt, but I was surprised that it spread quickly on SNS. Although it is a corona illness, I would like to continue efforts to increase the usage rate of AEDs."
It may be a little courage and the knowledge that you have cultivated so far that you can quickly help a person who has fallen in front of you.
Various approaches will continue until the day when everyone can use AEDs without hesitation.