National Training Center for Emergency Care

An agreement to conduct and administer accredited training courses in basic life support and emergency cardiovascular care and to provide educational materials has been announced by Cardiac Science, Inc. (Irvine, CA, USA). The agreement, made with the American Heart Association (AHA), establishes Cardiac Science as an AHA-approved U.S. National Training Center that will administer AHA-accredited courses and distribute AHA materials.

Currently, 95% of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital due to the length of time it takes for emergency personnel to arrive on the scene. Each year in the United States alone, about 340,000 people die from sudden cardiac arrest. In fact, a person's chance of survival is reduced by about 10% for every minute spent waiting for a potentially life-saving defibrillation shock.

If defibrillation is received within three minutes, as many as 74% of people could be saved. Automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) are now becoming more available in U.S. public settings. Cardiac Science develops and markets Powerheart AEDs and offers comprehensive AED and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training. In addition, the company will now offer the accredited training courses of the AHA and will provide its educational materials.

"With 150 certified educators nationwide, Cardiac Science has unique capabilities and infrastructure. We envision Cardiac Science training and certifying over 200,000 people in corporate and government workplaces in 2004, thereby making a significant contribution to strengthening the ‘Chain of Survival' initiative programs endorsed by the American Heart Association, which are designed to streamline local access to CPR, AEDs, and hospital care,” said Mike Bell, vice president, emergency cardiovascular care programs, AHA.




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