Cambridge has nearly finished installing 46 new automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, across parks and other public spaces. The devices, which analyze a person’s heart rhythm during sudden cardiac arrest and deliver an electric shock if needed, are part of an effort to make lifesaving treatment available before emergency crews can arrive.
The city spent $270,000 to purchase and install the new AEDs from Avive Solutions, founded by MIT graduate Rory Beyer, who first conceived of the device as a senior capstone project in 2017 (the company is now based in Brisbane, Calif.) The 46 units are spread across public spaces throughout the city, with some locations receiving more than one AED. Nearly all have now been installed, according to city spokesperson Jeremy Warnick, supplementing more than 40 defibrillators already located inside city-owned buildings.
The effort was on display Thursday at the Smith Campus Center in Harvard Square, where Cambridge Fire, Avive, CrimsonEMS, MIT EMS, MIT Emergency Management and Pro EMS, the private ambulance provider that handles 911 transports for Cambridge, offered free CPR and AED training to the public.
Every minute counts
Cambridge Fire used the new AED rollout and public training to help promote Avive’s “4 Minute Community” model, which the company says aims to create a network of AEDs positioned throughout the city so they can reach cardiac arrest victims within the first four minutes of an emergency.
“Every minute that goes by after you suffer a sudden cardiac arrest, you have a 10% higher chance of not surviving,” said Braxton Langston-Chapman, Avive’s growth marketing manager. “So time is everything. Speed to care is everything.”
The public education component is meant to encourage AED use by bystanders before emergency responders arrive. Right now, even when AEDs are present such interventions take place in only about 2 percent of sudden cardiac arrests, largely resulting from ignorance about how to operate the devices.
Cambridge Fire Capt. Jeremy Walsh said the four-hour training, attended by roughly 150 people and with each session lasting about 2-5 minutes, was meant to give residents enough confidence to intervene.
“We’re trying to get lay people to act before we get there,” Walsh said. “The machine will talk you through it.”
Walsh said the outdoor AEDs are kept in bright yellow, weatherproof boxes at parks and playing fields. The boxes are locked, but anyone who calls 911 can get the access code from the city’s emergency communications center.
The new park units began going in during early summer and have not yet been used in an emergency, Walsh said. The city’s older indoor AEDs, which have been in municipal buildings for about seven years, have been taken out during emergencies but have not been successfully used on a patient.
Where Cambridge’s outdoor Avive AEDs have been installed so far:
- Buckingham Field
- Callanan Playground
- Cambridge Common
- Corporal Burns
- Donnelly Field
- Fresh Pond Golf Course
- Glacken Field
- Greene Rose Park
- Hoyt Field
- Larch Rd Park
- Lindstrom Field
- Lopez Park
- Lowell School Park
- Maher Field
- Old Morse Park
- Pacific Street Park
- Riverside Press Park
- Russell Field
- Sennott Park
How to use an AED
Paramedics Kennedy Hackett and Pedro Arce demonstrated how to use the devices during Thursday’s training. A bystander first turns the AED on, pulls out the adhesive pads and places them on the person’s chest as shown in diagrams on the pads themselves.
If two people are present, one should begin CPR while the other sets up the AED. If someone is alone, Arce said they should get the AED pads on first, allow the device to analyze the person’s heart rhythm and deliver a shock if advised, then continue chest compressions between checks.
“It’s a very simple device,” Hackett said. “It’ll automatically shock, but it gives you a countdown to move out the way.”
For CPR, Arce said bystanders should place the heel of one hand over the lower half of the sternum, interlace the other hand on top and push hard and fast at 100 to 120 compressions per minute. A good rule of thumb is to do compressions roughly to the beat of the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive,” Arce said.
“Just hard and fast,” Arce said of chest compressions. “If you feel anything pop, that is a secondary concern.”
Cambridge firefighter Jose Lora also demonstrated “Stop the Bleed” techniques, showing participants how to control severe bleeding with gauze and tourniquets. Lora said tourniquets should be used on arms or legs when bleeding cannot be controlled with direct pressure and placed high on the extremity, near the armpit or groin, before being tightened enough to stop blood flow.
“Tell them, this is gonna hurt, but it’s gonna save your life,” Lora said.
Lora also directed attendees to a sign-up form where they could request to be contacted by Cambridge Fire about future CPR certification opportunities.
Putting the training into practice
Two Cambridge High School students who tried the AEDs Thursday said the machines felt straightforward to use.
Matthew Negron-Rivera, 16, had already trained on AEDs through his work as a lifeguard.
“This one’s way more modern than the one that we have over at the high school,” Negron-Rivera said. “I think it’s pretty cool how it tells you when to stop.”
Semelina Vlastelli, 16, had never used an AED before Thursday’s training but said afterward that she would now feel comfortable using one in an emergency.
“I think it’s an important skill to have, especially living in a big city like this,” Vlastelli said. “You never know what could happen.”
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.