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UNIVERSITY PUBLIC ACCESS AEDS, BLEEDING CONTROL AND CPR

AEDs, BLEEDING CONTROL AND CPR

The Program

The University AED (automated external defibrillator) Program provides oversight, management, and coordination for public access to critical life-saving emergency supplies found at seven of UConn's campuses (Storrs, Depot, Avery Point, Downtown Hartford, Hartford Law, Stamford, and Waterbury) as well as UConn Health. These supplies are located within marked cabinets in areas currently central to academic operations within the University.

The Program was initiated in 2018 through allocated funding from the Office of the Provost. The University of Connecticut Fire Department oversees this initiative in collaboration with the student group "UConn Rescue". Collaborating with numerous divisions, departments and agencies, the Program has successfully become the State of Connecticut's first "HeartSafe Campus", as recognized by the Connecticut Department of Public Health and is a giant leap in ensuring the safety of the UConn community throughout its enterprise.

What's in the box?

Each cabinet contains elements critical to life-saving efforts in the event of cardiac arrest and/or uncontrolled bleeding. All of these items are intended to provide immediate first-aid by the general public, but do not take the place of professional emergency medical service intervention and critical care. 911 must be called by the public immediately in all cases, to ensure the best possible outcome for survival.

Partnering with the national "Stop the Bleed" campaign, the University of Connecticut Fire Department provides two (2) basic individual bleeding control kits containing tourniquets, gauze, shears and pressure bandages, among other items, that enable the public to address a life-threatening bleeding emergency as the 911 system is activated.

A fully automated AED with all of the necessary equipment needed to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation on an adult experiencing sudden cardiac arrest is collocated within the cabinet. These items provide step by step instruction to the basic user through included easy to use visual guides and voice prompting.

Locations

Cabinet locations are placed uniformly among the UConn campuses involved with the Program. The placements are designed to be publicly accessible, although some are in locked laboratory research hallways due to specific use determinations. Generally, cabinet locations are found in the following areas:

  • Main building entrance
  • Main elevator bank or heavily traveled stairway
  • Alternating floors (e.g., 1st floor and 3rd floor, or 2nd floor and 4th floor, etc.)

The location of these cabinets can also be found using the free PulsePoint AED application for smartphones. This application can be found in your device's specific app catalog.

Training

Although the contents of the cabinets are able to be used with minimal knowledge by the general public, the more prepared the UConn community is, the greater the chance of success during a response. Connecticut General Statutes 52-557b - "Good Samaritan Law" protects a user of an AED in an emergency situation, even without training, outside of acts or omissions constituting gross, willful or wanton negligence. The University of Connecticut Fire Department in collaboration with the student group "UConn Rescue", provides the following options for those seeking more formal training on the items and concepts included in the Program:

  1. UConn Rescue schedules classes throughout the academic semesters. For individuals seeking training, there is a cost per participant. Additionally, departments or groups may also be able to set up a class outside of those regularly scheduled. Please contact UConn Rescue directly more information and scheduling at uconnrescuetraining@gmail.com, or at https://www.uconnrescue.com
  2. A department, group or individuals needing a class that cannot be scheduled through UConn Rescue, may seek training via an outside agency. The average market cost for a CPR/AED class is between $85 and $115 per person and often do not include instruction in the "Stop the Bleed" program. Although there are many, these two organizations provide an excellent training option:
  1. The University of Connecticut Fire Department may be contracted to provide UConn department training depending on class size and location. For more information on this option, please contact the EMS Division at uconnfire@uconn.edu.

Resources

For additional information, please explore the links below:

Reporting Issues

Should an issue be encountered with any of the equipment found throughout the enterprise, the community may report these by the following options:

  • If you have the PulsePoint AED application on your smartphone, scan the red QR code on the front of the cabinet with your device's camera to activate an automatic form that can be filled out and submitted automatically.
  • The University of Connecticut Fire Department can also be contacted via email at uconnfire@uconn.edu to address the issue. Please ensure you include the campus, building, floor and location within, of the cabinet and any descriptive information of the issue at hand in your message.

Questions

For additional information or guidance, please contact the University of Connecticut Fire Department EMS Division at uconnfire@uconn.edu.