Sudden Cardiac Arrest - Call the Elevator?

July 30, 2010 - PRLog -- ElevAED, a northwest company specializing in the strategic placement of AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) is shaking up the medical device and elevator industries with a radical proposal - that all passenger elevators carry an AED.

Company founder Dwight Jones points to some compelling reasons why you might call your elevator before 911, if you suspect someone may be suffering a sudden cardiac arrest.

"The time frame is so cruel, under four minutes," he states "and people in high-rises are harder for emergency crews to access. After 10 minutes more than 95% of SCA victims will be dead. It's something that really has to be handled in-house."

He explains that proximity and delivery become the key parameters for a successful resuscitation.

"The AED was designed for use by untrained people, but it must already be in the building and on its way in a minute. The victim is, after all, not breathing, so the only practical approaches are to have an AED on every floor, or in each elevator."

AEDs are expensive and require astute deployment if their promise is to be realized. There is rising criticism, however, that their ad hoc distribution to date is wasting lives and money. The AED registry Atrus estimates that only 0.5% of AEDs are ever used, largely because the assisting people often are not aware of their presence or location.

ElevAED's solution promises to greatly reduce their cost and expand their distribution, especially within densely populated areas.

"Elevators keep AEDs close to people in tower buildings, dynamically, and can deliver them almost immediately." explains Jones. "But just as important, elevators compact their cost to acquire and manage. A building with 30 floors and 3 elevators needs just 3 AEDs, not 30, and the building's 'vertical community' will see them in place every day. They'll come to appreciate them as their guardians, as valuable amenities."

He expects that high-rise residents and workers will educate themselves about SCA and be stakeholders facing a silent killer of more than 300,000 Americans annually.

As a public health issue, smart AED deployment may appear to be a no-brainer, yet ElevAED realizes that the elevator industry is tightly regulated, and will need time to adapt. The medical device manufacturers may not at first embrace a strategy that could shrink their sales numbers.

The company positions itself as a subcontractor that takes on the task of installing and managing high-rise AEDs on a longterm basis, as its singular specialty. The firm estimates that the cost per suite is less than $3 per month, including insurance.

"We expect AEDs in passenger elevators to be legally mandated at some point,"  Jones predicts "and we're making good progress with the elevator and AED manufacturers toward mutually integrating these lifesaving devices, alongside the people who will need them. The numbers will catch up when AEDs become harmonized in building complexes and are ubiquitous."

The company also manufactures stainless AED enclosures for architects, the hospitality and building industries and is a device/enclosure distributor. It is currently seeking investment for additional branches in Amsterdam and Beijing.

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ElevAED installs and manages AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) in elevators and throughout large building complexes. Its pioneering use of elevators as 'first responders' promises to greatly magnify the effectiveness of defibrillators.