SAED Education

One of the aims of the Victorian Centre for Early Defibrillation is to assist organisations that wish to develop a Public Access Defibrillation program with the tools to do so. Furthermore, to provide timely advice, on resuscitation education and particularly defibrillation in the out of hospital environment. One of the cornerstones of any successful resuscitation and defibrillation program is education. Without a robust education program the program will fail. Education, is multifaceted, there are the simple skills of resuscitation, that is, the ABC's of resuscitation;

• Airway
• Breathing
• Circulation

These skills are easily taught and obtainable by most Australians. Once the ABC's of resuscitation are mastered then we can add the skill of defibrillation, using a semi automatic defibrillator (SAED). However, the introduction of the defibrillator does not negate the need for the other learned skills. Research is emerging that effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before defibrillation will increase the chance of survival significantly. These are the second and third steps in the “Chain of Survival” and, as such, are easily identified and taught in a classroom or workplace. However, this is only part of the educational process.

The most difficult step in the “Chain of Survival” is the first step of early access. Early access sounds simple, it is, just pick up the phone and dial the emergency number (in Australia this is 000). However, there is a large amount of cognition that needs to go into this step before we can pick up the telephone and dial. The first step is to recognise the need to do so. This, in some cases is simple, the unconscious pulseless person. This appears simple, but all too often people think the victim is just asleep. Also there is a need for the individual to get involved, without bystander assistance the rest of the program is of little or no use. Plus, often the victim has had symptoms for some time before they collapsed, but they or those around them at the time failed to either recognise or act on the problem. This point can only fixed by effective community education programs. Therefore part of your PAD program must be education, for the likely uses of the service eg the signs and symptoms of chest pain, heart attack and who and when to call.

The idea of community based education may sound all too hard as the community is large. This is not necessarily the case. The community is the area that you plan to service by your program. If this service area is the workplace then it those in the workplace that need to be informed and educated. This education can be as simple as information leaflets and signs, this may also include a short session at a staff meeting etc. We just need to keep everybody informed and looking out for ones fellow man.

SAED Education Providors

In this section of the site we will list reputable educational providers, as we become aware of them. At this time there is no standard or nationally recognised defibrillation program, however, there are a number of very reputable first aid education providers that also provide training in the use of an SAED.

• Monash University (MUCAPS) Parkville Campus
• St John Ambulance
• The first aid unit of the Metropolitan Ambulance Service
• The first aid unit of Rural Ambulance Victoria
• Australian Red cross

The VCED does not advocate anyone provider over another, these are commercial decisions you as an individual or organisation need to determine, based on what best serves your needs. There are other providers other than those listed, however, at this time we have no knowledge of the standards of their programs. This list will be updated over time.

SAED Educational Aids

To be completed