How many AEDs do public buildings need?

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - 61st District Court Judge Benjamin Logan is undergoing tests to determine the extent of the damage done by the heart attack the long-serving jurist suffered this week.

Logan was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday after suffering that heart attack in his courtroom.

The ability to save lives in the event of a heart attack at the first sign of distress has increased dramatically in the last decade, thanks in part to automated external defibrillators, or AEDs.

Surprisingly, there is only one AED for the entire 12-story Grand Rapids courthouse. But that number doesn't tell the entire story.

The Kent County sheriff's deputies who handle security at the courthouse began CPR -- the most critical life-saving step -- on Logan almost immediately.

They also called for the courthouse's lone AED, which is kept in a locked room on the first floor of the building.

"We know that we have staff there that can grab it. There's always staff there. That's one thing that's good. The other thing is they know where they're going," Kent County Under Sheriff Jon Hess explained.

But is one AED enough, especially for a large, busy public building?

Experts with Kent County Emergency Medical Service Inc, which oversees various medical response agencies and plans throughout the county, say there is no requirement for a set numbers of AED's in a public buildings, with the exception of health facilities.

The federal government does require AEDs be placed within three minutes of anyone visiting a federal facility.

So 24 Hour News 8 timed how long it might take to get the AED to the top floor of the courthouse.

After catching one of the six public elevators, it took less than a minute to reach the 12th floor.

And there is also backup available.

Kent EMS says the Grand Rapids Fire Department has 28 AED-equipped pieces of apparatus that can get anywhere in town in six minutes or less.

Hess says having an AED on every floor of the courthouse may sound like a good idea.

"But then there's the inherent problem of making sure wherever there at, everybody knows what to do with them," Hess said. "You've got to have people that are trained. The expectation is that people are trained to use it, that someone is monitoring the battery and it's working."

Training in AED use and CPR is available through several local organizations.

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