FIRST RESPONDER PROGRAM

Sudden cardiac arrest remains a major unresolved public health problem. Each year in the United States alone, sudden cardiac arrest strikes more than 350,000 people, nearly 1000 per day. This makes it the single leading cause of death. Most of these victims die before reaching a hospital due in part to the unexpectedness with which sudden cardiac arrest strikes. Experts agree that many of the deaths due to sudden cardiac arrest are preventable and that available technology, if appropriately applied, could reduce them significantly at a relatively low cost.

The key to preventing these unnecessary deaths is to provide defibrillation therapy in a timely fashion. To address this concern in our community, the City of Alcoa Fire-Rescue Department through the help of Blount Memorial Hospital has placed an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) on all fire apparatus responding to emergency medical calls.

In 1995, the City of Alcoa Fire-Rescue Department, through our First Responder program, started responding to all life threatening emergency medical calls in Alcoa. All personnel are CPR/AED trained with minimum of first responder certification with most employees being certified emergency medical technicians.