Not many of us would. And yet, nearly 300,000 people in the U.S. go into SCA each and every year without warning. Sadly, fewer than 7% of them will survive, often because emergency medical services cannot reach them in time. Each passing minute reduces the likelihood of successful resuscitation by another 10%.

We’ve always taken safety to heart at Motrec.

After all, countless hardworking folks around the world rely on our electric vehicles to perform safely in challenging commercial and industrial applications. That trust is sacred to us.

So when Jean-Sebastien Duguay, our director of marketing proposed that we invest in an automated external defibrillator (AED) for our facilities, the subject of safety suddenly struck much closer to home.

Then he showed us even more compelling statistics.

For example, the survival rate of SCA victims jumps to 75% or more if they are treated with CPR and a defibrillator within the first 12 minutes. The difference between a 7% and a 75% survival rate had a huge impact on us.

Once we saw the small cost of an onsite defibrillator, and how easy they were for virtually anyone to use without prior training (our new defibrillator has voice instructions that walk you through every step and are paced with your actions so that you know exactly what to do, and when to do it), the decision to invest in an AED was easy.

So now, in addition to all the other measures and programs we have in place to ensure a safe and healthy work environment for our staff, we also have a handy tool that any one of us can use at a moment’s notice to potentially save a co-worker’s life. We know that an AED cannot save everyone’s life, but knowing it’s there is very reassuring.

We encourage all our global partners — whether you’re a Motrec customer, dealer or supplier — to consider investing in an onsite automated defibrillator for your facilities.

You can find more information about automated external defibrillators from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration website at: www.osha.gov/SLTC/aed/.

What Is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

SCA generally occurs when the heart’s electrical system becomes chaotic and stops beating properly. As the individual begins to lose blood flow, he or she stops breathing normally and becomes unresponsive.

What Does an AED Do?

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a lightweight, battery-operated portable device connected to sticky pads with electrodes. These sensors are attached to the person’s chest and send information about his or her heart rhythm to a computer in the AED. The computer then analyzes this rhythm to determine whether an electric shock is needed. If it is, the AED’s voice prompts tell you when to give the shock, and the electrodes deliver it.