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RealtySouth sales associate, Ed Coe, was volunteering at a church service project when one of his best friends lost consciousness. Ed went down with him and lay cheek-­to-cheek with his friend while two nurses who were on site began CPR. Ed vividly remembers one nurse telling the other “I have no vitals.” Minutes later, a Mountain Brook police officer arrived on scene with an automatic external defibrillator (AED). Thanks to the nurses’ immediate response and the rapid availability of an AED, Ed’s friend is alive and well today. “Right after, the very next day, I went to Richard Grimes and got the conversation started about putting AEDs in our offices,” said Coe.

Richard Grimes, RealtySouth CEO, heard Ed’s message loud and clear: “We have a lot of offices and a lot of people working in them. We started doing our research and it made a lot of sense. We try to be proactive about providing a safe, productive work environment and this falls right in line with our initiative.” RealtySouth is placing HeartSine Samaritan AEDs in all of their RealtySouth offices, as well as their corporate headquarters. Through Birmingham based Cardiac Solutions, they will also provide CPR/AED training to their employees.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, survival chances increase significantly when bystanders perform CPR and defibrillation before first responders arrive on scene. Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in the United States. When SCA occurs, the heart stops pumping blood to the rest of the body (including the brain) and the victim quickly loses consciousness. CPR alone will not restart the heart. The American Heart Association recommends defibrillation within three minutes for the best outcome. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Preven8on (CDC), an SCA event occurs once every 34 seconds.

Every year in the United States, there are over 400,000 Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) events. Of those, over 300,000 result in death. Of that 300,000, approximately 13% occur in the workplace. Because SCA occurs because of an electrical issue, CPR alone isn’t effective. Studies show early defibrillation with an AED can dramatically improve survival rates. When early defibrillation is available within three minutes after collapse, as is recommended by the American Heart Association, survival rates are as high as 74%. Beyond the American Heart Association’s recommendation, both OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) recommend AEDs in the workplace.

“RealtySouth is setting a fine example for other corporations in Alabama by recognizing the importance of AEDs for the health and well-being of its employees and clients,” said Jon M. Seale, CEO at Cardiac Solutions. “Richard Grimes’ effort to place AEDs in RealtySouth’s offices is an exemplary one and their program should serve as a model to other Alabama companies, both large and small. This launch signals loud and clear that RealtySouth prioritizes the safety of its employees and clients.”

When asked why advocating for an AED program at RealtySouth was so important to him, Ed Coe responded simply: “Because I’ve seen it work.” As CEO, Richard Grimes believes that it’s the right thing to do: “It’s just part of being proactive about the health of our RealtySouth family. It’s something that promotes a healthy and safe work environment. It’s just part of saying ‘We care’.”

About Cardiac Solutions

The mission of Cardiac Solutions, a world leader in personal and public access defibrillators, is to advance the deployment of life-­‐saving defibrilla8on therapy for the treatment of Sudden Cardiac Arrest in non-­‐traditional areas of care. Cardiac Solutions offers a comprehensive portfolio of AED solutions that include planning, design, implementation and administration, enabling medical oversight, and training and management of AEDs through a single point of contact. To learn more, visit www.cardiac-solutions.net or call us at 1.888.223.2939.