Safety On Site Training Awarded First-Ever Arizona State Bid To Provide Zoll AEDs To State Agencies
Safety On Site Training, a local, woman-owned health and safety training center, has been awarded the Arizona state bid to provide AEDs to all state agencies.
This is great news not only for Zoll Medical, manufacturer of Zoll Automated External Defibrillators, but also for Safety On Site Training and its owner, Michelle Allcott-Mills.
Safety On Site Training (SOST) has been in business for the past five and a half years as an American Heart Association Training Center, offering CPR, First Aid, AED and OSHA training to businesses, schools and the general public. In addition to training the company has also been selling AEDs, providing Medical Direction and Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs.
Having been named a distributor for Zoll Medical earlier this month, Allcott-Mills knew the timing was perfect when the State of Arizona decided to seek an AED vendor. While she isn't exclusive to Zoll in AED sales, it is her best selling AED simply due to its design, innovation, reputation and price.
In 2003, Arizona enacted a law requiring all state buildings to have AEDs installed. For a state government to take these steps, it screams volumes for the progress made in the knowledge and acceptance of AEDs. Members in the industry have predicted for some time now that AEDs would someday be as common as fire extinguishers, and it appears this action by the state of Arizona is proof that. Currently, five states require AEDs in all schools, K-12. Although Arizona is not one of these states, SOST has placed AEDs in several school districts.
Perhaps it's because of the proven statistics, which reveal a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) victim's chances for survival decrease by 7%-10% with each passing minute. Early defibrillation provides survival rates of up to 70% higher than with CPR alone. Unfortunately, EMS response times aren't such that defibrillation is being performed soon enough in most cases, therefore the availability of an AED on site, is crucial. In fact, without AEDs statistics show the survival rate of a sudden cardiac arrest victim is only 5%, whereas with an AED present and used that number increases dramatically, showing 65%-75% of the patients survive.
Equally important to the provision of AED units in state agency offices, is the choice of the brand chosen. Zoll Medical is an industry leader in the manufacturing of AEDs and offers a unit that is rugged, easy to use and affordable. Zoll's Biphasic Technology is rated superior in "hard to defibrillate" patients and the one-piece electrode pad makes for extreme ease of use. The user interface steps the rescuer through the entire process, including a reminder to call 9-1-1, which is often a forgotten step in CPR courses.
Zoll is the only available AED that actually gives live feedback to the rescuer, to assure adequate rate and depth of CPR impressions. Putting all of this together with an affordable retail price and minimal maintenance cost, Zoll came out heads and shoulders above the rest in the Arizona state consideration.
In addition to the state bid, SOST can offer special pricing to community, church and education groups.
SOURCE: Safety On Site Training