With assistance from the Cheney Cardiovascular Institute at George Washington University, the DowntownDC BID’s Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance employees (SAMs) are in a better position to assist Downtown workers, visitors and residents who might experience sudden cardiac arrest, the nation’s leading cause of death.
Last month, all SAMs completed an American Heart Association course on cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly known as CPR, and learned how to use automated external defibrillators, or AEDs. The training preceded a George Washington University and Cheney Cardiovascular Institute grant, which includes free AED units. The units will be placed in mobile SAM information kiosks stationed at key locations throughout the DowntownDC BID area, the SAM headquarters building at 1229 New York Avenue, and SAM vehicles.
This will enable the SAMs to respond rapidly to sudden cardiac arrest, an electrical malfunction of the heart that causes it to quiver rather than pump in a normal rhythm. When someone collapses from sudden cardiac arrest, they need immediate CPR and the shock of an AED to restore the heart’s natural rhythm. The portable, electronic devices save thousands of lives each year, and the BID is pleased that it received the grant from the GW Institute’s ReStart DC program, which places AEDs where large numbers of people gather throughout the city. The addition of the AEDs is one more step in the BID’s efforts to maintain a safe and prepared Downtown.