Good place as any to post this.

My wife and I were at the gym recently and, as incredible as it sounds, a sixteen year old girl had a heart attack while on a treadmill. She fell off near us and after some CPR by another gym member someone grabbed the AED (luckily there was one). Initially, no one wanted to use it thinking they could hurt the girl even more. We learned that these machines can ALWAYS be used and are designed NOT to inflict further damage. The machine tells you exactly what to do - you just have to use it and as soon as you can! The AED did what it was supposed to do and by the time the medics showed up she was breathing again. She's doing much better now.

Wifey and I are spreading the word around about these wonderful machines. If you find yourself in heart attack scene and there's an AED around, DO use it as it can save a life.

Thanks for posting this. Real world experiences like this may open the eyes of some. I'm a certified first aider and myself and a number of co-workers get re-certified on standard first aid, cpr and aed use every time our certification comes up. (different training is good for different periods of time) What I've learned from my regular aed training is just how easy these things are to use. You could easily use them without training, though it helps to be familiar with what they do and the proper placement on the body of the pads.

Take DFT's experience and use it in your own life. Take just a moment at work to identify where the aed is. Don't open the cabinet though, because many are alarmed. If your workplace offers it, volunteer to be a first responder and get the appropriate training. Who knows, you may just be there when someone really needs you!

Great posts guys. My gosh, sixteen?

Rick A.

There are a couple were I work...there are also some trained folks who are respponders. I would have never thought of using it but after reading this, if I am in the wrong place at the wrong time I'd have too try.

there are about 5 or 6 of them around our high school and a couple more at the football stadium.

all coaches in ohio have to have training in this, (among other things) in order to get certified to coach high school, or junior high school, athletes.

i think that should include all teachers and administrators too, but it doesn't for some reason?

My in-laws have one in their kitchen, which they got when my FIL had a stent put in 10-ish years ago. Luckily, we haven't had to use it.

Available on AmazWAN for a mere $1,200.