Happy National CPR and AED Awareness Week,

Each year we dedicate June 1-7 to spotlighting how lives can be saved if more people know CPR and how to use an AED.

We’ve all seen medical dramas on TV and in films where the victim is shocked back to life using a nearby AED. Unfortunately, in the real world, AEDs are used in less than 3% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests globally.

Each year, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States. When a person has a cardiac arrest, survival depends on immediately receiving CPR from someone nearby. About 90 percent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double, or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.