The Contra Costa County Health Services department is asking residents to register their automated external defibrillators (AED) to help increase the odds that they are used during cardiac arrest. By registering with the county, the lifesaving devices will be marked available for public access in the event of a medical emergency.

"By marking it as public, she said, a new information system called AED Link will notify owners of AEDs if their lifesaving device is within 1,200 feet of a reported sudden cardiac arrest victim," said Pam Dodson, prehospital care coordinator with the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) division of Health Services.

Although there are approximately 800 known AEDs in the county, few are marked public and EMS estimates that at least 200 more are not registered. Dodson said the devices are becoming common because they increase survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest and are easy to use. A person's chance of surviving cardiac arrest diminishes by 10 percent for each passing minute without care, Dodson added.

"It is incredibly tragic to hear about cardiac arrest victims who did not receive the help of an AED when one was nearby—sometimes in the same building," Dodson said. "During a 9-1-1 call, AED Link instantly identifies the location of all registered AEDs near a reported sudden cardiac arrest victim. It then automatically calls or texts volunteer responders requesting that they bring their AED to the victim hopefully in time to save their life."

Registering the device is state law and as part of American Heart Month, the health department asks residents to register AEDS online or by calling 313-9547.

"When you register your AED, you get free maintenance reminders, recall notifications and much more to ensure your device will work as it should when you need it most," EMS Medical Director Dr. Joseph Barger said in a podcast.

Every San Ramon Valley Unified school has an AED and the Fire District was named a Heartsafe Community in 2011 for its use of an enhanced 911 system, specially trained first responders, providing the public with access to automated external defibrillators and having at least ten percent of its population trained in CPR, among other things.

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