Use a defibrillator, save a life

With the work for Long Shutdown 1 looming on the horizon, the CERN Fire Brigade is anticipating a heavy workload: more people working at CERN means more call-outs. So the more trained first-aiders around to help out before the paramedics arrive, the better. Would you know what to do in a medical emergency?

It could happen at any time: two colleagues are having a coffee at work, when one suddenly clutches his or her chest and falls to the floor unconscious. What would you do? Run to find a first-aider? Call the ambulance and wait, finishing your coffee? Neither response is entirely correct. On Monday 11 June in Building 40 the CMS safety group, in collaboration with the Fire Brigade and the Medical Service, demonstrated the recommended, potentially life-saving response to cardiac arrest (see the video), including the correct use of a defibrillator, ten of which were recently installed in key CERN locations (the Bulletin reported).
   
“In countries where defibrillators are widely available to the public, the survival rate after cardiac arrest is between 20 and 50%, compared to only 2 to 4% in countries without them,” explains Niels Dupont-Sagorin, Deputy GLIMOS for CMS and organiser of the simulation exercise. “A defibrillator can be used without any training, but to improve the patient’s chances of recovery some first-aid knowledge, for example how to do chest compressions, can literally make the difference between life and death. So we need as many trained first-aiders as possible, and we need everybody to know where the defibrillators are.”

Just a few hours of your time could save a colleague’s life: sign up for the first-aid courses here.

by Joannah Caborn Wengler