PORTLAND, Maine – The first week of June is CPR and AED Awareness Week and the American Heart Association in Maine is partnering with MEMIC to encourage all employers to offer AEDs in their workplaces and train workers on Hands-Only CPR. As Maine’s leading workers’ compensation insurer, MEMIC is in a unique position to partner in improving employee health and safety at the more than 18,000 employers that are its Maine policyholders. 

Educating and training the public on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) use is an important public health concern. More than 350,000 Americans suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside of the hospital each year and about 90% of them die. If CPR is administered immediately it can triple a person’s chance of survival and 90% who receive a shock from an AED in the first minute will live. Most likely, the person you save is someone you know or love.

Phil Napolitano, the husband of a MEMIC employee, was saved by an AED. He had just finished a game of basketball at Yarmouth Middle School when he collapsed on the gym floor.  Thankfully, a teammate saw an AED and used it to bring Napolitano’s heart back to normal rhythm, giving paramedics enough time to arrive and transport him to Maine Medical Center.  Today, thanks to the defibrillator and the quick action of his friend, Napolitano’s heart is normal and he faces no physical restrictions.  Napolitano’s experience is a wonderful example of the ripple effect an AED can have across a community when it saves a life. 
An AED is a lightweight, battery operated, portable device that can be used without any training. It has electrodes with sticky pads that are placed on a person’s chest. Once attached, the AED analyzes the heart looking for an arrhythmia.  If the AED detects one of two arrythmias - Ventricular Tachycardia (V-Tach) or Ventricular Fibrillation (V-Fib) - it will send an electrical shock that can restore a normal heart rhythm. Every AED has visual and/or audio prompts to inform the user of the proper steps to take. These small machines are very user-friendly and have become much more affordable in recent years. The American Heart Association (AHA) can help you or your organization with facilitating the purchase of an AED. They can also help to find CPR and AED training in your area. The AHA is a worldwide leader in first aid, CPR and AED training – educating more than 22 million people globally each year. 

About MEMIC 
The MEMIC Group includes MEMIC Indemnity Company, MEMIC Casualty Company, and parent company Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company; all rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best. As a super-regional workers’ compensation specialty insurer, The MEMIC Group holds licenses to write workers’ compensation across the country. The group insures more than 20,000 employers and their estimated 300,000 employees, and holds more than $1.4 billion in assets. The group maintains offices in New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida, in addition to its headquarters in Portland, Maine.