UB initiative aims to save lives by registering AEDs

Only 10% of victims of sudden cardiac arrest survive, and that number is even lower in areas with health inequities. Cardiac arrest victims who receive a shock from an automated external defibrillator (AED) prior to EMS arrival have 2-3 times better odds of survival. The problem is that in most communities, the locations of AEDs are unknown to citizens and even first responders.

A UB PhD student wants to change that.

Rhonda Drewes, a doctoral student in the biomedical sciences program in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has been awarded a social justice fellowship from the school’s Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement to identify and register AEDs, especially in areas of Western New York that are underserved.

The initiative involves crowdsourcing to identify and register locations of AEDs throughout Western New York.

It kicked off on Oct. 16 — October is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month — at an event at the Jacobs school.

The goal is to make AEDs instantly searchable on Google and Apple map apps so that searching for “AED near me” will become as easy as finding the closest Tim Hortons. The campaign hopes to identify and register 1,000 new AEDs in Western New York by Feb. 14, 2025.

Drewes describes how the campaign relates to her doctoral work in the Jacobs School. “In the lab we are investigating the role of mechanobiology in heart disease, tackling novel treatments to target stiffness in these conditions,” she explains. “We want to engineer drugs to target this stiffness so that cardiac arrest never happens in the first place, or so that progression of heart-related conditions is delayed until much later in life. Improving access to AEDs only contributes to the mission of helping people with heart conditions and diseases.”

Drewes’ fellowship project features a contest for individuals who register the most AEDs in Western New York. The prize for first place is $1,000, second place is $500 and third place $300.

“AED registration is such a simple thing to do and it could mean saving someone’s life,” she says. “If we target underserved areas in Buffalo, we can impact the disparity of life-saving health care access.”

Drewes is working with a coalition of local and national groups, including one started by Leslie Bisson, June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Orthopaedics in the Jacobs School. Bisson, head team physician for the Buffalo Bills, was a member of the first response team that provided on-field care for Bills safety Damar Hamlin when he suffered cardiac arrest in January 2023. Since then, Bisson has been working with community groups to address barriers to bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation/automated external defibrillator (CPR/AED) training in underserved communities in Buffalo.

Other partners involved in the effort to identify and register AEDs include the Erie County Department of Health and its HeartSafe Community initiative; UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine; Cardiac Crusade and PulsePoint, a mobile app dedicated to registering every AED in the U.S. and Canada; and the Rotary Club of Kenmore.

Those interested in taking part in the AED initiative can find more information here.