June is here, bringing countless summer safety messages to deliver throughout your workplace. Motorcycle and trailer safety make for great June toolbox talk topics. Same with ergonomics while driving. Lightning Safety Awareness Week is in June and it’s National Safety Month too. When it comes to your monthly digital display presentation refresh, there are so many talking points to choose from that it can be overwhelming. Why not follow your heart and focus on the importance of CPR and AED training? 

National CPR and AED Awareness Week happens every year from June 1–7. It’s the perfect opportunity to educate your workers on the importance of CPR and AED training through a digital presentation projected on the TVs and other digital displays in your facility.

Approximately 10,000 cardiac arrests occur in the workplace each year in the United States, according to a report from the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Would you know what to do if this happened in your workplace?

A digital presentation is the perfect venue for reminding folks in your facility how to recognize the signs of cardiac arrest in the first place. List them out:

• Sudden collapse and loss of consciousness
• Ineffective breathing, gasping for air, or not breathing at all
• No response to shouting or shaking
• Lack of pulse

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, “If you think someone is having a cardiac arrest, call 9-1-1 and then start CPR right away.”

Performing CPR can triple the chance of survival if performed early enough after cardiac arrest. The only problem is that people on the scene of a sudden medical emergency often aren’t trained in CPR, so when someone near them suffers cardiac arrest, they don’t know what to do. That ambiguity can make the situation even worse, increasing human factors-based risks in an already hazardous situation.

Part of CPR training is understanding the human factors that come along with being the first on the scene of a medical emergency. Panic is a common state of mind in this situation that can interfere with a timely response. This is not a state of mind that people experience regularly, making it harder to predict how they’ll act. Thankfully, preparation and training can help folks keep calm in dire circumstances.

Regular CPR training is a key factor in maintaining competence and reducing the stress and anxiety that often accompany panic. Keeping emergency health certifications up to date ensures complacency doesn’t set in after long periods without relevant incidents. On top of that, regular human factors training will help first-aiders and people on the scene to self-trigger if they experience rushing or frustration in these situations. These complementary skills help responders get the person in distress the help they need.

Other heart emergency procedures are a little more difficult to keep good habits on. The AED on your worksite is (hopefully) not something that is used very often. And while that’s generally a good thing, infrequent use means remembering the steps to properly use an AED can be difficult. Luckily, AEDs have built-in voice instructions to walk users through the process. It’s still important to have AED training but putting this reminder in your presentation can help put those trained at ease and set expectations for how to respond in an emergency.

Your digital display presentation is a great place to share similar reminders. The more people are reading about what to expect in an emergency, the more likely they are to remember it in a crisis. While CPR training teaches the first-aider on site to check a person’s airway and determine if they are breathing and have a pulse, the first step is always to dial 911.

Using a numbered list in your presentation is a good way to get people to remember the order of critical medical emergency steps. Try including a slide with this easy-to-remember process:

If you find someone in distress, take immediate action:

1. Dial 911

2. Start CPR

3. Use an AED

If the first-aider is alone, they should put their phone on speakerphone to dial 911 and start CPR. If not, they should instruct someone close by to call 911, begin CPR compressions and ask someone else to find a nearby AED. As soon as the AED is available, they should turn it on and follow the voice prompts.

Putting these instructions in a presentation with corresponding images is another great way to help people remember what to do. When someone goes into sudden cardiac arrest, every second counts. Regular reminders ensure these steps are quick to recall, not delayed or misremembered in a moment of surprise.

Did You Know: Half of all U.S. workers can not locate an AED at work?

Your presentation should show where all AED devices are located in your facility. Use pictures with locations to be sure people have a visual cue the next time they pass it in the hallway. Remember: AEDs should be installed in enough accessible locations to ensure a response time of 3–5 minutes.

Stats and “Did you know” comments like the one above are excellent at grabbing people’s attention in this type of presentation. By drawing viewers in, you have the opportunity to engage them in safety culture and reinforce the importance of knowing what to do in a health emergency.

Did You Know: AEDs combined with CPR increase survival rates to 50% or more?

Of course, it is also crucial to know who in your facility is certified in CPR and AED—make sure that there are multiple lists posted throughout your facility along with contact instructions. Time is of the essence in a medical emergency, and making sure the right people are on the scene as soon as possible can mean the difference between life or death. This information is a great addition to your June presentation. Beyond pointing out the locations where the emergency information is posted, include the names of people certified in CPR and AED next to their photos. This way if there’s an emergency and the first person on the scene isn’t certified, they can quickly find someone who is.

In our guide to master creating digital safety presentations, we underscore the importance of ending with a call to action. For this presentation, you should offer CPR and AED training to workers within your facility. Have sign-up details with the date and time of the training. OSHA recommends—but does not require—that all workplaces include employees who are trained and certified in first aid, including CPR (check with OSHA to see in which industries this is a requirement). But even if you’re not required to provide such training—or are only required to train a minimal amount of people—all organizations should consider pursuing certification for multiple employees.

Not in your budget? Provide details on where they can get trained on their own. Highlighting the benefits of off-the-job safety and being CPR and AED certified may increase workers’ desire to take the training. After all, cardiac arrest doesn’t have a punch clock—it can strike anywhere at any time, and the more people trained within your facility, the better the odds the right person will be present in an emergency. CPR and AED training is invaluable and your June digital presentation is a great opportunity to demonstrate that importance to your employees.