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Allina Health delivers life-saving equipment and training
Bourbon Butcher is the first recipient of an automated external defibrillator (AED) from the Farmington Community Foundation.
Thanks to a collaboration with Allina Health, the AED comes with free comprehensive training about cardiac arrest and how to help anyone who may be experiencing the often-deadly condition.
“I help people learn the difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest,” said Renee Hamdorf, a Heart Safe Community specialist with Allina Health. “I teach them to recognize the signs of both, and I show them how to use the AED.”
Cardiac arrest vs. heart attack
With the help of red and white slides, Renee, who travels across the state delivering presentations like this one, broke down the statistics. An estimated 350,000 people in the United States experience cardiac arrest outside of a medical facility, and without CPR and an AED, the survival rate is only 10%. She explained that cardiac arrest is an electrical problem, while a heart attack, “is more of a plumbing problem.” She homed in on the fact that people experiencing cardiac arrest pass out, while someone can very well remain conscious during a heart attack.
Is it cardiac arrest?
As the Bourbon Butcher’s managerial team listened intently, Renee told them if someone collapses, they need to ask themselves two questions: ‘Can the person breath?’ and ‘Are they conscious?’
“If it’s no and no, you need to go,” said Renee. “Go means tell someone to call 9-1-1 and tell the operator someone collapsed, and you begin CPR.”
Renee says gone are the days when she wants everyday citizens to do chest compressions and rescue breathing. The complexity of performing those two acts, and touching a stranger’s mouth, made people shy away from doing CPR altogether.
Hands only CPR
Renee teaches her classes to do bystander or hands-only CPR, with the assistance of Fred, the Hawaiian-shirt clad manikin. She stacks her hands on top of one another, places them in the middle of Fred’s chest and begins pushing down hard and fast. However, she does not bend her elbows. She keeps her arms straight and bends from her waist.
Renee told the group of managers that “most adults have six to eight minutes of oxygen in their blood stream at the start of cardiac arrest,” which led to questions. One person asked why people turn blue or darker shades that signal a lack of oxygen. Renee reminded them the oxygen is there, but it is not circulating. The compressions help get oxygen-filled blood moving and buy the person some extra time until the paramedics can get to them.
When do you use the AED?
A second person would need to run and get that AED. “We do not want those compressions to stop,” explained Renee.
The AED is easier to use than most people imagine. It talks to you very much like a children’s toy, rattling off simple instructions that guide you through making sure the chest is bare, the pads are in the correct place, and everyone is clear when the electrical charge begins.
Two members of the managerial team worked through the prompts.
“This feels groundbreaking,” said Jon Willems, general manager of Bourbon Butcher. “I’ve been in the restaurant industry a long time, and we’ve never had this kind of tool at our fingertips, so I think it’s fantastic that we have the ability to intervene if needed.”
Although the Bourbon Butcher's managerial team participated in the training just in case there is ever an emergency at their restaurant, Renee said, “statistically, people who learn CPR are more likely to use it at home to help a loved one.”
Renee’s favorite part of these trainings is when people realize helping to save a life is not as complicated as they thought, and they can make a difference if they are ever needed.
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