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 me 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.