Most U.S. employees are not prepared for cardiac emergencies at work, according to new surveys of employees and workplace safety managers.
The surveys, commissioned by the American Heart Association and released Monday, revealed most workers don’t have access to CPR and first aid training, and half could not locate an automated external defibrillator, or AED, at work.
There are about 10,000 cardiac arrests in the workplace each year in the United States, according to a report from the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
Workplaces are doing a better job promoting heart health through smoking cessation, gym memberships, and healthier foods, said Peter Fromm, R.N., administrator at the South Nassau Communities Hospital Center for Cardiovascular Health in Oceanside, New York. But it’s time workplaces also prepare to save the lives of employees and customers, he said.
In two separate online surveys, more than 3,000 workers in various fields were