Effective August 1, 2008 at least one individual employed by the institution (including part time, volunteer or graduate assistant coaches, but not including student employees who are not members of the athletics training staff) certified in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automatic external defibrillator (AED) use and familiar with the institution's emergency plan activation policies shall be present at each athletically related activity involving student-athletes.

Prior to this new legislation only the Athletic Trainer was required to be certified for practices and competitive events. Under the new guidelines more people must be trained. Now the requirement is for a greater range of activities.

An individual certified in first aid, CPR and AED must be present at any athletically related activity that is physical in nature and required by the institution (e.g., practice, competition, strength and conditioning training, weightlifting sessions).

This will also effect the non contact sports as well. An individual certified in first aid, CPR and AED must be present in practice situations like cross country runners practicing on a road course, rowers on the water or golfers on the golf course?

An individual must be present on site at each required athletically related activity to ensure adequate health and safety monitoring is being provided. Planned access to a qualified individual, such as a certified individual three to five minutes away from the court or field would not satisfy the intent. If a team splits its members into more than one group in order to conduct separate practice and conditioning activities in separate facilities, an individual employed by the institution and certified in first aid, CPR and AED must be present at each group's activities. The proposal's intent is to have certified individuals present at each athletically related activity site to ensure adequate presence for all student-athletes. It is not permissible for one person to split time between two different group‟s activities. The certified individual must be present the entire time the physical athletically related activity is conducted. For example, any practice should not start until the certified individual is present.

I commend the NCAA for doing this. They are creating a safer enviroment for all student athletes under all circumstances.  Kudos to the NCAA!

It has been a long time coming. The Federal Government has taken another step to help the chance of survival for victims of sudden cardiac arrest.They have declared the first week of June "National Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Awareness Week".

In a staggering study it is found that there is a 95 percent mortality rate for over 300,000 Americans who are victims of sudden cardiac arrest each year.

It is also estimated that on average it takes 8 to 10 minutes for first responders(9-1-1) to reach a victim. This number can vary depending on your location. Why is this important?

The reason that this is so important is because after four minutes without oxygen going to your brain it will begin to die. After eight minutes it becomes the point of no return, irreversible brain death begins to occur. So even if the heart is restarted, the damage after eight minutes can never come back. This is why we need people to do CPR.

You can read the whole article that was released by clicking here.

 This is an important step for making a difference. If people now become more aware of this situation and learn how YOU can make a difference than we can change these statistics and have a positive outcome for victims of sudden cardiac arrest. There are also programs out there that are now trying to make a difference such as:

• AED Implementation programs
• Public Access to Defibrillators (PAD) Program
• HeartSafe Community
• Family & Friends CPR and First Aid

With a lot of attention now on these issues we hope to start to create safer environment for everyone.

It is estimated that 350,000 people die suddenly each year from ventricular fibrillation (VF) to the heart. Often times doing just CPR is not enough. Currently, only 5% of sudden cardiac arrest victims survive in places where no AED programs have been established.

The AED (Automated External defibrillator)is designed to help in this very instance. An AED will shock the heart and hopes to get the heart to start to beat normally again. If an AED is attached to someone within the first three (3) minutes of cardiac arrest you may give upwards of a 74% chance of survival. CPR alone may only give a person around a 14% chance of survival.

These statistics are why there is a PAD program which is a Public Access to defibrillator program that puts these machines in such places as major airports, gyms & fitness facilities, subways, shopping malls high schools, etc.

Thank goodness for organizations out there like the  Initial Life Support (ILS) Foundation which provide vendors with the capability to offer AED Grant programs.