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HONOLULU - The State Department of Transportation-Airport Division has installed 100 Welch Allyn AED-10 Defibrillators in public areas of all state-run airports as of December 2006.  Sixty of the devices were installed at Honolulu International Airport, ten (10) at each Kahului and Kona Airports, nine (9) at Hilo Airport, six (6) at Lihue Airport, and one (1) at each of the airports in Kapalua, Lanai, Molokai, Kalaeloa, and Dillingham.

The automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have been installed in the Hawaii airports so the public or airport employees can quickly access them in the event of a cardiac emergency. To make the AEDs accessible to bystanders each of the AEDs have been placed in well marked, alarmed cabinets strategically located throughout the airports.

“We experience on average about six cardiac arrests each year at Honolulu International Airport alone,” said James Ireland, M.D., medical director for Honolulu International Airport’s Crash/Fire Department and the airport’s defibrillator program, and an emergency room physician at Hawaii Medical Center-East. “Survival rates can be improved as we now have defibrillators located about 90 seconds apart in walking distance through the airport’s public areas, which can be used to help in medical emergencies.”

“A large part of the Hawaii airports "Operation Stay'N Alive" includes educating DOT-Airport Division employees, who volunteer for training, how to respond to a cardiac emergency, perform CPR, and how to use the AEDs,” said Pamela Foster, RN, the Airport’s AED program coordinator. “The goal is not to just place the AEDs in alarmed cabinets, but to make sure everyone is comfortable responding to an event and using the AED when needed.”

As of February 2007 nearly 1,200 airport employees have been trained and certified in the AHA Heartsaver AED course that combines the skills of CPR and how to use an AED. The American Heart Association CPR/AED training is contracted through AED Institute of America, INC. who is proud to be affiliated with the exceptional personnel of Hawaii's Crash/Fire/Rescue Unit, an AHA certified Training Center.

“AEDs have evolved in their simplicity so that now anyone can easily use them with very little instruction,” Ireland said. “The machines prompt users with verbal messages on what to do.”

The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates that sudden cardiac arrest is responsible for about 250,000 out-of-hospital deaths annually in the United States. AHA supports lay rescuer programs that provide early recognition, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and early defibrillation within the first minutes of a cardiac arrest.  It has been proven that public access to defibrillation programs with trained responders can increase survival of victims of sudden cardiac arrest by seven times or more.