Three minutes.
That’s all it should take someone to save the life of a person in cardiac arrest. That is, as long as there is an AED at least 90 seconds away, said Randy Jouben, director of the diocesan Office of Risk Management.
For those not up on medical lingo, AEDs are automated external defibrillators, electronic devices that apply “electric shock to restore the rhythm of a fibrillating heart.” They’re what you’ve seen on “ER” and “House,” except with the addition of clear-as-a-bell step-by-step instructions that enable “Joe Parishioner” to use it just as well as a trained doctor or nurse.
A result of a combination of dedicated parishioners and a sweeping initiative by Jouben and his office, these small, portable devices are being purchased in more and more diocesan parishes around the diocese in the hopes of saving lives. Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Vienna, St. Thomas à Becket Parish in Reston, and St. Raymond of Penafort Parish and St. Bernadette Parish, both in Springfield, all recently have installed AEDs on parish and school grounds.
Giving parishes and schools the opportunity to save lives with AEDs has been a priority of Jouben’s since the day he was hired, he said. Three years of research and training paid off last fall when he issued a release to all parishes asking that they consider investing in the electronic units.
Approximately 25 diocesan locations are “actively in the process” of deciding whether or not to purchase a machine, Jouben said.
To Jouben, the benefits of AEDs are very basic: “to save a life, pure and simple,” he said, a goal that upholds Church teaching. “Think about how much it would give our mission by saving someone’s life.”
In a community such as Our Lady of Good Counsel, which has nearly 10,000 parishioners, Mary Ellen Estes, program coordinator for the parish, said having access to AEDs just makes sense.
“We are just going from morning till night with teenage youth groups all the way to an elderly group that goes dancing every week,” Estes said. This continuous activity makes AEDs necessary, she said — that is, as long as people know they exist.
“Half the battle of an AED is public awareness,” Estes said. “You have to make people aware that (the AEDs) are in residence.”
That’s why Estes devoted an entire weekend to speaking at Masses at the parish and giving demonstrations of the devices afterward.
“We have a lot of certified people in the community and I want to let everyone be a part of it who is capable,” Estes said. “You’re giving somebody a chance to live who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance.”
For those who aren’t certified, a comprehensive class of AED training, adult, infant and child CPR, and First Aid are offered by the Risk Management Office. Oblate of St. Francis de Sales Father William J. Metzger, pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel, was officially the first person trained, Jouben said.
When a parish decides to purchase AEDs, Jouben goes through each location on his own, mapping out where the units should be located.
“We want to be able to administer a shock within three minutes,” he said.
With that goal in mind, the office calculated that one unit must be installed every 150 to 175 feet, a brisk walking pace of 3 to 4 mph.
Jouben wants all AEDs in the diocese to be the same model, and he chose the Philips HeartStart OnSite Defibrillator for its ease of use.
“We need to have a standard,” Jouben said. “By standardizing, you really make it easy. People get comfortable with the units; they know what they look like.”
But, financially speaking, what is the cost? Because the diocese is purchasing the AEDs through a local vendor, Jouben said, it receives a discount. The result, however, is still a steep $1,250 per unit, a price that some diocesan parishes simply can’t afford.
To get around that number, some parishioners are getting creative. Miranda Moscatelli, administrative assistant at St. Bernadette, said that the Springfield parish currently has two units that were provided by the local Cub Scout troop. St. Bernadette parishioners donated nearly $5,000 to Cub Scout pack 995 to be used for the AEDs, said Katy Carlson, former Cub master.
Back at Our Lady of Good Counsel, along with Father Metzger, Oblate of St. Francis de Sales Fathers John J. Dolan and Stephen E. Shott, parochial vicars, also have all been trained, and the training additionally has been opened to “high users of the parishes,” such as lectors, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, ushers, and those in parish clubs, Estes said.
Occasionally people collapse in church, said Father Dolan, a former EMT. If that happens it’s all about being prepared.
“To have any advantage on site that we could have until emergency personnel get there would be great,” he said.  
Father Dolan recommended getting AEDs whether a parish is large or small.
“I don’t really think it matters how many parishioners you have because anyone could have an episode — you never know,” he said. “You don’t have to be a large parish” to find merit in the AEDs.
In fact, though Our Lady of Good Counsel has five units, St. Thomas à Becket, with no school, only needs one.
Susan Infeld, program coordinator for the Reston parish, has overseen the installation of AEDs and the facilitation of three training classes in the community so far this summer. Infeld, a registered nurse with emergency room experience, is strongly committed to the program because of its overwhelming positive consequences.
“Statistically we’ve just seen the successes over and over again of providing immediate shock to victims of sudden cardiac arrest,” Infeld said. “The success of that is so profound that it seemed like a no-brainer.”
With 34 members of the parish certified in the six-hour course, Infeld said she would “love to see consideration given to providing a shorter program” to encourage more participation.
“I think the more people that you can get comfortable with the basic CPR/AED algorithm, the greater the chances are that someone will take that step of grabbing the AED or staring the CPR process,” she said. “Providing people with the basic skills of CPR at a broad level can be that life saving five minutes for the victim.”
And, Infeld said, echoing Jouben, having AEDs readily available all comes back to the mission of the Church.
“Taking care of others and providing this kind of service to our parishioners is part of our mission within our parish ministry,” she said. “This is a real opportunity to serve.”
For information on AEDs call the Office of Risk Management at 703/841-2503.

Gretchen R. Crowe can be reached at gcrowe@catholicherald.com.

(c) Copyright 2007 by Arlington Catholic Herald