DC looking to save lives with AED rebate program
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Seconds count when someone has a heart attack — and D.C. leaders are looking to save lives by launching a rebate program to get more automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) into the community.
Leaders are also urging people to learn all-hands CPR. If someone has that knowledge and an AED on hand, they can help save a life if somebody has a heart attack.
District leaders are especially focused on neighborhoods east of the river. DC Fire and EMS said not as many people there are doing bystander CPR and using AEDs to save lives.
“And of course, we see an overall lower survival from cardiac arrest,” said Robert Holman, DC Fire and EMS medical director.
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Small businesses, places of worship, small unit apartment buildings and nonprofits are eligible for a rebate of up to $400 dollars for buying an AED or up to $750 for buying more than one.
“I should be able to see it when I enter a store. So I’m hoping that they buy in and get them because it will save lives,” said Tracey Hooks.
Tracey Hooks’ husband died of a heart attack in Southeast in 2019. A bystander called 911 but didn’t know CPR or have an AED nearby.
Now his daughter, Sgt. Terrika Hook, is D.C.’s cardiac arrest performance improvement officer.
“He stayed on the scene and he directed the EMTs to where he was, but with my knowledge, I know that if he would have gotten when he fell and gotten the CPR that he had needed, then the outcome could have been different,” Sgt. Hook said.
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In 2018, DC Fire and EMS discovered that 57% of all cardiac arrests occurred in three zip codes east of the river. In those zip codes — 20019, 20020 and 20032 — there were only 19 registered AEDs, compared to 36 on a single block in downtown D.C.
That’s improved since police officers now carry 19 portable AEDs in those areas, but the importance can’t be understated.
“The use of an AED and CPR in that situation before the 5 minutes go by, when the EMS ambulance arrives can be life-saving and more importantly, brain-saving,” Holman said.
The rebate program is open for all parts of the city but outreach will focus on Ward 8.
First responders want more bystanders to help. You can do that by downloading the PulsePoint app, which can notify you of a cardiac arrest within a quarter mile of where you are and also direct you to the nearest AED.
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