Document Type

Honors Thesis

Major

Kinesiology and Physical Education

Advisor(s)

Christopher Nightingale

Committee Members

Lauren Jacobs, Jennifer McNulty, Sally Molloy, Kalem Quint

Graduation Year

May 2020

Publication Date

Spring 5-2019

Abstract

According to statistics by the American Heart Association, there are 475,000 deaths from cardiac arrest every year with more than 350,000 of them happening outside of the hospital. The only chance of a victim of sudden cardiac arrest to survive is a bystander rapidly starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), contacting emergency services for assistance, and acquiring an automated external defibrillator (AED).

This research recruited participants affiliated with the University of Maine campus and divided them into two groups: those who are required to have CPR/AED training for their affiliation and those who were not required these trainings. All participants then took a survey to look at their confidence and familiarization with CPR/AED and their knowledge of AEDs on campus.

It is hoped this study will result in an increased amount of individuals on the University of Maine in Orono campus becoming CPR and AED certified as well as opportunities for current certification holders to expand their confidence in their CPR/AED abilities. In addition, steps will hopefully be taken to provide information of AED locations to more people on campus via course, maps, and dispatch-assisted AED locationing.

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