Completed Projects/Issues - Parks / Coast / Environment

Deputy Chief Perry Peake demonstrates AEDs that will be Deployed at all lifeguard towers, vehicles and boats.

Coastal Defibrillator Program

San Diego Lifeguards will be more equipped to save lives at San Diego beaches due to the addition of Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) in lifeguard towers and vehicles.

On July 29, 2004 Councilmen Scott Peters and Michael Zucchet launched the coastal AED program with the announcement that 20 new portable defibrillators will be available in lifeguard facilities at City beaches. They also announced that 15 additional AEDs have been funded by an anonymous donor. These 35 devices will be added to the 20 currently in service for a total of 55 AEDs at coastal facilities. The additional funding will also be used to upgrade the AEDs to work on pediatric patients as well as adults.

"This program will make our beaches safer for visitors and residents alike," said Peters. "This program will provide the tools necessary to enhance our lifeguards’ ability to complete their life saving mission."

Councilman Zucchet agreed saying, "Death by sudden cardiac arrest is preventable if it is attended to quickly with the right technology. This program will put the right technology on the front line, and could make the difference between life and death."

Automatic External Defibrillators are compact automated devices which deliver electric shocks to the heart, halting sudden cardiac arrest. Clinical studies have shown that AEDs increase survival rates in sudden cardiac arrest victims by 30 to 70 percent. For every minute a patient suffering from sudden cardiac arrest awaits definitive care, there is a ten percent decrease in the chance of survival. Patients who wait an average response time of seven minutes have only a 30% chance of survival. The placement of defibrillators in public locations can decrease the time life-saving care gets to a patient.

The new AEDs have been in service since July 16th and bring the total number of AEDs at coastal facilities to 55, covering every lifeguard tower, vehicle and boat.