The Edina Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services was ranked No.1 in the nation in sudden cardiac arrest survival, according to a recent study by the national Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) program. Edina’s survival rate of cardiac arrest is a whopping 71.4 percent. Comparatively, Hennepin County’s survival rate is 49.4 percent and the nation’s is 31.8 percent.
“I’m very proud of our crews,” says Marty Scheerer, fire chief of the Edina Fire Department. “Police, EMS, fire, dispatch and Southdale Fairview Hospital all do an excellent job.”
The secret of this success lies perhaps in what is called the “chain of survival,” a set of procedures that improves a person’s chances of surviving cardiac arrest. This represents a collaborative effort between different branches of Edina’s Emergency Responders consisting of immediately calling 911, starting CPR, early use of an automated external defibrillator and delivery of post-resuscitative care.
The CARES program started in 2004 as a joint effort between the Center for Disease Control, the American Heart Association and the Emory University Department of Emergency Medicine. Currently 40 communities in 25 states participate in the program.
