“To commemorate National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, Clear Channel Outdoor, Jacksonville, Florida Division, will display billboards with pictures of kids from across the nation whose lives were claimed by sudden cardiac arrest (SCA )” said Becky Cohn, Vice President of AED Petition Now Alliance. The billboard message reveals the incredible statistic that we lose 16 kids each day (5,760 annually) to SCA. Just as incredible, many people are unaware that, when an automated external defibrillator (AED) is applied to a SCA victim within the first minute after collapse, chances of survival are as high as 90% according to American Heart Association. Chances decrease 7-10% for every minute thereafter...with the average emergency response time being 10-12 minutes. This is why it’s vital that AEDs be available in schools and public recreation facilities.
Clear Channel Outdoor, Division President, Brent Bolick, states: “Through our partnership with AED Petition Now Alliance, the Jacksonville Division of Clear Channel Outdoor is pleased to provide public service messages within our local digital billboard network to raise awareness of and the need for placement of AEDs in our public schools to increase the survival rate of any child affected by Sudden Cardiac Arrest.”
“Many are complacent and fail to act on making the availability of AEDs a priority, thinking it won’t happen to them. Through this ongoing initiative people can stay informed on AED progress and how lives lost will become news reports of lives saved,” Cohn explained. “ By being proactive, we can prevent communities nationally of going through such sudden tragedy.”
Cohn asserted, “With having AEDs more prevalent, we could easily save 200,000+ lives per year. SCA is our nations #1 killer, claiming 450,000 annually. That’s more lives than breast and prostate cancer, AIDS, traffic accidents, firearms, and house fires COMBINED. Unbelievably, statistics show that having facilities equipped with AEDs, up to 74% of victims affected survive. Without AEDS the national survival rate averages 5%. Our kids simply deserve being afforded a second chance for life. Others can be afforded a second chance to live long enough to see their grand-children.”
The Alliance will email copies of billboards to AED advocates in each state, who can call upon their local television, print and radio media to support of the initiative and encourage everyone to sign the petition. Working in unison, advocates will create a huge nationwide impact.