Fire & EMS

Did you know that heart disease is the number one cause of death for firefighters? One third of all firefighter deaths this year will be the direct result of cardiovascular disease.

Firefighters are inevitably in harm's way as they battle fires due to the extreme working conditions they face and highly physical nature of the job. Every firefighter is certainly under tremendous stress, increasing the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

Providing early defibrillation is often the responsibility of EMS agencies, including fire departments. Whether the victim is a fellow firefighter or a civilian, having Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) readily accessible can provide a critical resource that is able to deliver life saving defibrillation treatment immediately and effectively. Another benefit of an AED is the reduced cost – making it the smart choice as agency budgets are increasingly under review, financially strained and in many cases facing cuts.

A majority of Advanced Life Support (ALS) fire departments utilize manual defibrillators on their apparatus, rather than AEDs. There are two major drawbacks with manual defibrillators. First, only qualified personnel, such as paramedics, are able to operate these defibrillators. Second, the high cost associated with manual defibrillators. Due to their high cost ($15,000 - $30,000) and size, manual defibrillators are not a practical choice for most departments to equip all of their apparatus or personnel with such equipment.

AEDs cost a fraction of what the average manual defibrillator costs, roughly $1,400 - $2,100. The size of the AED equipment is much smaller, much easier to carry and most importantly AEDs are easily used by anyone; whether you are a firefighter with minimal medical training or a fully trained paramedic. Due to the enormous benefits of an AED, many departments are opting to purchase AEDs for all fire stations, apparatus, strike teams, and other department vehicles.

AEDs increase the survival rates and saves lives. Please take the time to learn how you can better protect your department, in addition to the citizens in the community your serve!