Two automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) have recently been installed on campus. The AEDs, both portable, allow users to resuscitate a victim of cardiac arrest by applying an electric shock. The Red Cross reports that "use of CPR and defibrillation within four minutes of a sudden cardiac arrest, linked with advanced life support within eight minutes, almost doubles a victim's chance of survival." And "each minute defibrillation is delayed reduces the victim's chance of survival by nearly 10 percent."

According to campus safety coordinator Patricia Smith, the idea to install AEDs came about after a stricken Harvey Mudd College trustee was saved via the use of one of the machines a couple of years ago. To date, 50 volunteers on campus have been trained to use the AEDs, including students and resident assistants. Volunteers watched a short instructional video, then participated in about 15 minutes of hands-on training using a ‘trainer AED’ (a facsimile device that doesn’t administer an electric shock) on a dummy. “The machine is computerized, includes diagrams, and has a voice prompter that tells you step by step what to do,” says student Elise Kim '02.

Harnetiaux says that when participants such as Kim used the AED trainer, they responded to a scenario that may have mimicked a real-life situation. Harnetiaux says the AED units are practically foolproof and "will only shock someone whose heart is in ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation, and will not shock a heart that is not beating or is beating normally.”

Ideally, Smith says the AEDs never will be used, but says it’s a comforting notion to know they are there---just in case. The machines have been installed near the west entryway to the California Grill at The Hub and in the hallway between the athletic training room and the main basketball arena at Ducey Gymnasium. Both units are housed in alarmed cabinets. Cost for the defibrillators currently prevents having more than two units at this time, so the decision to place them on either end of campus was based on both efficiency, and the fact that The Hub and the gymnasium are open for longer stretches of time.

The American Red Cross and the American Heart Association offer AED training. Additionally, Harnetiaux, who has led CPR/AED training on campus, says if enough interest is generated among CMC employees and students, he could arrange a training class for groups of four to eight people.

An up-close view of an automatic external defibrillator. About 50 volunteers on CMC's campus have been trained to use the device in cases of cardiac arrest.