Boston College increases number of AEDs on campus

The Office of Emergency Management is tripling the presence of automatic external defibrillators—known as AEDs—at Boston College through a campus-wide project that began last fall. The rollout of AEDs, which will deploy more than 100 devices to most University-owned properties, is scheduled for completion by the end of the semester.

AEDs are designed to analyze the heart rhythm and deliver an electric shock to victims of ventricular fibrillation to restore rhythm to normal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a study found that administering an AED during a cardiac arrest increases survival rate by 70 percent.

Currently, BC has approximately 50 AEDs on campus, of which about 30 are publicly accessible. The older models, which have already been replaced with the new devices, will be sent back to vendors through a buyback program that will refurbish the technology and sell them on a secondary market to environments that cannot afford the equipment.

Prior to the device launch, BC’s AED program used different models of the portable electronic device. Now, the Office of Emergency Management, with the help of Facilities Management, will replace all AEDs with the new Avive Connect AED.

Director of Emergency Management John Tommaney described the new devices as “next-generation technology” for AEDs: “A standard AED doesn’t really know its own status or where it is. These new AEDs check in with us every day. Each morning we will get a report on the health and status of every AED on campus—if the batteries need to be charged or replaced, if it’s too hot or too cold, or if it was moved. In the event of an emergency, we actually get an alert from the device. So they’re very intelligent in that respect.”

Unlike the older AED models, the Avive device is universal for children and adults and provides verbal and physical instructions both in English and Spanish through its smartphone-like technology, making them easy and intuitive to handle in the event of an emergency.

During the first-phase rollout of the Avive AEDs, according to Tommaney, almost every major building on campus will have a new device installed along with kits that control severe bleeding—a serious and often deadly effect from industrial or vehicular accidents and other causes. Phase two of the project will include residence halls and other areas.

There have been seven recorded sudden cardiac arrest incidents on campus since 1997. Shortly after the first cardiac emergency, BC’s Emergency Medical Services program was formed and AEDs were introduced to the University. Through Emergency Management’s partnership with EMS and Campus Recreation, more than a thousand people on campus have been trained to perform emergency CPR in the last two years.

“It’s important to know that anyone can use these devices and there are good Samaritan laws to protect you in the event that you need to use one,” Tommaney said. “BC Police officers can be at the scene in anywhere from three to five minutes, which is quick. But five minutes could make all the difference of survival in a cardiac event. Somebody intervening right away can really change the outcome of the event.”

To know where the closest AED is to you, go to the Emergency Management home page at bc.edu/emergency. In the event of an emergency, call the BC Police emergency line at ext. 2-4444.