Utah Emergency Medical Training Council (UEMTC) Donates Free AED TO Road Home Homeless Shelter

SALT LAKE CITY - March 13, 2013 - PRLog -- The Utah Emergency Medical Training Council (UEMTC), a 31-year old Emergency Medical Training non-profit, launched the Shockingly Simple to Restart a Heart Campaign aimed at increasing the proliferation of AED’s in public life and follow-up Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or CPR training this February. Two days later, a man had a heart attack, crashed his car in front of our main office and died. Using our AED and CPR, he was resuscitated and is alive today after recovering at a local hospital.

To promote the introduction of more AED’s in Utah and to increase AED and CPR training, the UEMTC is donating one FREE AED to a local Utah based non-profit organization every month for a year.  

On March 13, 2013 the UEMTC donated an AED to the Road Home. The Road Home provides emergency shelter and a variety of programs that help individuals and families step out of homelessness and back into the community. Terri Holland, Executive Director of UEMTC, said of the donation, “Since the Road Home serves a high-risk population, it is our hope the AED and training will help save the life of anyone suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest while at their facility.”

Any Utah-based 501 C-3 organization may apply to receive a FREE AED by contacting the UEMTC at 801.562.2663. The AED units are funded through the tuition collected from medical professionals and others taking classes such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).

The Utah Emergency Medical Training Council was founded in 1982 as a nonprofit public service organization with the goal to ensure all citizens in Utah were trained to handle emergency medical emergencies.  The Training Council holds classes all over the Salt Lake Valley (in house and off premises). UEMTC launched the “Shockingly Simple to Restart a Heart Campaign” which demonstrates how “Shockingly Simple” it is to use an AED to restart a heart.

AEDs are safe to use by anyone who has been trained to operate them, and the law says anyone who attempts to save a life with an AED or CPR will not incur any liability should they fail in their efforts. Studies have shown that 90 percent of the time, an AEDs is able to detect a rhythm that should be defibrillated.

Over 300,000 people in the U.S. die of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) every year. In fact, the chance of surviving a SCA event is only 3%, yet survival rates skyrocket to 80% with the use of an AED followed by CPR. The American Heart Association estimates that at least 50,000 deaths a year could be prevented. An AED is the only device that may save a life during a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

Interested individuals or organizations may sign up for CPR, First Aid, AED, Advanced Cardiac Life Support ACLS or PALS courses. For more information contact the Utah Emergency Medical Training Council at (801) 562-2663 or find them on the web at www.uemtc.org.