During a football team’s 2-hour practice in late August, the coach has defense running sprints without rest breaks for the last 20 minutes of practice. One of the players suddenly falls to the ground. He has extremely hot skin, is sweating, and appears disoriented. What would you do? This scenario can happen at any outdoor […]

Life-saving equipment and supplies need periodic maintenance and replacement. Enter the school year with confidence that you will be prepared for ANY medical emergency. Perform a physical inspection of all equipment and supplies kept on hand to save lives. Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)   AED Defibrillation Pads AED pads expire and batteries will run down, […]

It finally feels like summer. Swimming pools, beaches, boating and backyard baby pools; everybody is trying to stay cool. Unfortunately, bodies of water can be dangerous places for children, even those with swimming skills. According to the American Heart Association, drowning is one of the top injury related, avoidable deaths for children 15 and under. […]

Do you perform a visual inspection of all your AEDs once a month?  Do you log those findings in a complicated spreadsheet? A new trend in AED and WiFi technology is hitting the AED market. This new innovation will allow you to monitor your AED’s rescue readiness from your desktop or mobile device, making it […]

One of the core values from our mission statement at Vital Education and Supply, Inc. reads: VES believes that the commitment to frequent and repetitive life-saving training strengthens the community and work force. The follow up statement reads: VES believes that the above statement cannot be true without continuous research, observance and improvement of medical […]

“Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.” This sage quote by ancient author, Saint Augustine, perfectly describes the mind-set of the American Heart Association’s guidelines for lay-rescuer tourniquet use in the last 10 years. Now, the 2010 guidelines are allowing tourniquet use to be part of the curriculum once more, in moderation, of course! Documented […]

I read a heartbreaking story today about a grandmother who was killed in a car crash trying to drive her bleeding grandson to the hospital. As a CPR and First Aid instructor and a semi-retired EMT, I have a lot of input and experience on the very topic of “When to Call an Ambulance”. There […]

A 12-year-old boy collapses at a basketball game from sudden cardiac arrest. The crowd swarms around him and someone starts CPR while someone calls 911. Ten steps away, an AED sits waiting and ready inside a shiney white metal cabinet hanging on the wall. No one thinks to grab it and the AED is never […]

Another 5 years has passed and the American Heart Association (AHA) is working hard to save more lives. The lay rescuer students I teach in class hate when the AHA changes things up for CPR. I try to assure them that the changes are minor in “the scope of the big picture”, but the lay […]