Heartstart Onsite
For the ordinary person in the extraordinary moment
Each year sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) strikes approximately 340,000 people in the U.S. alone, and hundreds of thousands more worldwide.The majority of these people have no warning, since they show no prior symptoms. And sadly, fewer than 5% survive, often because emergency medical services cannot reach them in time. SCA most often occurs when the electrical system of the heart becomes chaotic, causing it to stop beating effectively. Lacking proper blood flow, the person becomes unresponsive, stops breathing, and will die unless promptly treated. CPR is important, but it alone cannot restore a normal heart rhythm. A “shock” from a defibrillator is the most effective way to restore the heart’s normal pumping rhythm. The victim’s best chance of survival is to receive that shock within 5 minutes of collapse. Just as seat belts or airbags do not save every life in a traffic accident, a defibrillator will not save every person who suffers a sudden cardiac arrest. Yet many lives could be saved if more people could be reached more quickly. Philips HeartStart Defibrillators enable virtually anyone to treat the most common cause of SCA by delivering a shock quickly and effectively, wherever it happens – at work, at play, in the air – providing the power to save a life.
