About one million AEDs are installed in office buildings, malls, schools and sports stadiums around the U.S. However, only a few public agencies maintain a database of AED locations or systematically check to make sure available devices are in working order. Half of the cases of sudden cardiac arrest are due to ventricular fibrillation, which is most responsive to a shock from an AED. Odds of survival are reduced by 10% for every minute a person is collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest without cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillation. Sadly, when AEDs are put up, they are often forgotten or stored too far away to retrieve quickly. In an effort to change this, the University of Pennsylvania created a crowd sourcing project, asking residents of Philadelphia to track down as many AEDs as they could find within the city. The project concluded with a map containing the locations of more than 1,400 AEDs in 500 buildings in Philadelphia. Take the challenge – How many can you find your area?

Read the full article HERE!

Learn more about the MyHeartMap Challenge HERE!