SDSU Police Department

Automatic External Defibrillator System

Project Heart Beat aims to make AEDs as accessible as fire extinguishers throughout our community.

An Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) is available in each SDSU Police Department vehicle and around the SDSU campus. See the campus maps for the AED locations listed below:

• Arts & Letters (Lobby)
• Aztec Aquaplex
• Aztec Recreation Center (ARC)
• Aztec Center (wall adjacent to information booth)
• Calpulli Center (4th Floor)
• Childcare Center
• Cox Arena (Entry level and floor level)
• East Commons (outside)
• Exercise & Nutritional Sciences Annex
• Gateway Building (SDSU Foundation lobby & KPBS lobby)
• Library Reserve Book Room
• Mission Bay Aquatic Center (off-campus)
• Peterson Gym (Breezeway)
• Physical Plant (lobby)
• SDSU Research Foundation Building, 3590 Camino Del Rio North, near mail entrance (off-campus)
• Student Services East (Breezeway)
• Tennis Court

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Statistics

• More than 460,000 fatal heart attacks occur each year in the U.S.
• 95‰ of people who suffer a heart attack in the workplace do not survive
• Defibrillation within three minutes of the onset of a heart attack saves 7 out of 10 lives

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The Programs

More than 460,000 Americans die each year from sudden cardiac arrest. Statistics from both the American Heart Association and American Red Cross show that automated defibrillator (AED) programs work to reduce deaths from cardiac arrest. With each passing minute after a heart attack, a person’s chances of survival dip by 10 percent. If an AED is applied within three minutes, that person’s chance of survival rises from 30 to 70 percent, as opposed to less than 5 percent without an AED.

In response, SDSU is taking part in a larger county program to install AEDs (automatic external defibrillators) in public places. In 2000, the city of San Diego began “Project Heart Beat” to encourage government agencies, businesses and other entities in the county to begin defibrillator programs.

AED machines, housed in plastic cases the size of a large purse, can be used to monitor a person’s heartbeat and determine if the heart’s rhythm is normal. Defibrillators can also deliver life-saving electric shocks to restart the heart or correct an irregular heartbeat. AEDs are designed to be used by non-medical personnel, so cardiac arrest victims don’t have to wait for emergency crews to arrive to receive potentially life-saving treatment.

The Departments of Public Safety, Environmental Health and Safety, and Student Health Services have cooperated closely with San Diego County Emergency Medical Services to acquire the AEDs now on campus (see list of AED locations around campus). Micki Binnall is SDSU’s point of contact for all AED purchases and placements. Departments wishing to install an AED must train at least one staff member in its use. Aren’t SDSU students, in general, too young to be worried about having a heart attack or irregular heartbeats? Not according to Binnall. “Anybody, at any age, can experience a sudden cardiac event,” she says.

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Here’s what to do if someone is unconscious/unresponsive:

1. Call 9-1-1
2. Check for breathing
3. If the victim is not breathing, initiate Rescue Breathing
4. Gently tilt the head back to open the airway
5. Watch chest and listen for air from mouth
6. If still not breathing, pinch the nose and give 2 slow, full breaths
7. Watch the chest rise and fall during each breath
8. Breathe into the victim’s mouth once every 5 seconds until emergency personnel arrive
9. Check for a pulse by gently pressing to the side of the victim’s throat
10. If no pulse, and if AED is available, open AED and apply
11. Administer CPR as required
12. If you don’t know CPR, continue with Rescue Breathing

NOTE: CPR and First Aid classes are offered through the Aztec Recreation Center (ARC).

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This page last updated June 30, 2008
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