UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (UBMDOSM) has joined forces with the Erie County Department of Health, UBMD Emergency Medicine, the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Cardiac Crusade and PulsePoint to raise awareness and help register more AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) across Western New York locations — for easy access, when every second counts.
For the past several years, UBMDOSM has partnered with UBMD Emergency Medicine and other organizations on the Your Hands Can Save a Life initiative, working together to promote CPR/AED awareness with a variety of informational and training sessions throughout Western New York.
This latest collaboration focuses on a goal to register and verify 1,000 AEDs throughout the region, making their locations available to 911 systems and smartphones (through the PulsePoint app) to improve cardiac arrest survival. Sponsored by a Social Justice Fellowship at Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, the collaborating organizations are promoting a contest — with a $1,000 first place prize — for those who verify the most AED locations in Western New York.
Contest registrations may be submitted through February 14, 2025, which is when the winners will be announced, and it is open to anyone in the eight Western New York counties. Any community member interested in participating can visit the Cardiac Crusade registration page to become an AED location identifier and verifier.
With the community’s help locating and mapping more AED locations, it can help save countless lives of people suffering from Sudden Cardiac Arrest. AEDs may be found in several public locations including restaurants, businesses, schools, theaters and more. See a complete list of locations where AEDs may be found or provided for use in an emergency.
Cardiac Crusade is a nonprofit organization supporting the mission to save lives by providing AED locations to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems and making them searchable on smartphones globally. PulsePoint is a mobile app created to register every AED in the country.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest kills over 350,000 people annually in the U.S., and it can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time, often without warning. The three things to do when someone goes into cardiac arrest, in the hopes of helping them stay alive, are:
- Call 911
- Do chest compressions
- Then use an AED
See educational videos on Hands-Only CPR and AEDs, course registration links and other resources by visiting our community education page.
UBMDOSM is proudly committed to educating the community on life-saving knowledge through CPR and AED awareness and training. Partnering with organizations like the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Black Nurses, Inc. and UBMD Emergency Medicine, UBMDOSM provides virtual educational materials, hands-on training at community events, and instructional sessions for student-athletes and youth at several local high schools.
Watch WKBW’s coverage of this latest contest and initiative to register more AEDs across Western New York.