WASHINGTON, DC--Scripps Media and its broadcast stations, newspapers and digital news outlets around the country are about to launch a project that could increase the chance for survival of thousands of Americans experiencing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) by making automated external defibrillators (AEDs) more available and accessible and by improving public awareness.
“AEDs: A Shocking Shortage,” will open with an array of print and video stories, photos, an interactive map, editorial and other elements that will begin appearing in broadcast and print in selected markets this week and across the U.S. next week.
After this initial presentation, Scripps outlets will work with various social media and online survey tools to gather as much information in each community as possible about where AEDs are, how many people are prepared to use them, personal experience with access, training opportunities and related issues.
Scripps will be reporting and crowdsourcing in other locations through the fall and winter, looking at some of the new tools being tried for registering and linking AEDs to emergency call centers, phone apps, etc., as well as innovations in educating people about SCA, CPR and AEDs.
The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation has been working with Scripps to provide information, resources, expert sources, and connections with members of its Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivor Network.
AED Location Challenge
The Scripps Media AED Project includes a crowdsourcing challenge to locate and map automated external defibrillators (AEDs), which will be piloted in Memphis, Tenn. and Palm Beach Fla. The public will be urged to identify and report fixed location AEDs—those installed, moored, wall-mounted or assigned to a fixed drawer, shelf, cabinet or closet. AEDs in personal residences or unfixed locations, including police cars, fire trucks or airplanes, are excluded from the initiative. To see the survey, click here.
Survivors and Rescuers: Share Your Experience
If you are a sudden cardiac arrest survivor—or a rescuer who used an AED to help save a life—and you would like to share your experience for the Scripps Media AED Project, please contact the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation at media [at] sca-aware.org or 877-722-8641 toll free. Scripps is especially interested in interviewing individuals in the following markets:
- Abilene, TX
- Anderson, SC
- Bakersfield, CA
- Baltimore, MD
- Cincinnati, OH
- Cleveland, OH
- Corpus Christi, TX
- Denver, CO
- Detroit, MI
- Evansville, IN
- Henderson, KY
- Indianapolis, IN
- Kansas City, KS
- Kitsap, WA
- Knoxville, TN
- Memphis, TN
- Naples, FL
- Palm Beach, FL
- Phoenix, AZ
- Redding, CA
- San Angelo, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Tampa, FL
- Treasure Coast, FL
- Tulsa, OK
- Ventura County, CA
- Wichita Falls, TX.