Following the on-field, mid-game collapse of the Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin in January, many eyes have been on the topic of cardiac health and lifesaving measures such as Automated External Defibrillators, or AEDs for short.
“Every minute a person in cardiac arrest goes without an AED, the chance of survivability is reduced by ten percent—so for every minute, ten percent gets knocked off on the possibility of surviving the cardiac arrest event,” said Q Rothing, who owns Jolt CPR with his wife, Emily.
Rothing has been trained as an EMT and with Jolt CPR, he educates people across the Gallatin Valley about life-saving measures such as AEDs.
“Do your best to be prepared. I’ve been in a handful of emergencies, not only from my EMT training, but also from having this business. And having taught this stuff on repetition, I know what to do in case of an emergency,” Rothing said.
Rothing demonstrates the use of an AED in his Jolt trainings, with an automated voice that gives step-by-step instructions to someone providing aid to a person.
“Heart disease is like the number one killer of folks in our country—and heart disease usually manifests into cardiac arrest,” Rothing said.
Tim Martindale, director of Gallatin County 911, notes there has been a slight uptick in cardiac-related calls coming into dispatch.
Through the first two months, there have been 19 cardiac arrest calls, and last year total there were 163 calls that came through the center.
Recently, Gallatin County 911 launched the use of the PulsePoint Mobile App, where members of the community can be involved in life-saving efforts.
“I look at it this way: if I drop down of a heart attack today, I want someone there that knows CPR. I don’t care if it’s the fire department, law enforcement office, or my neighbor—I want someone working on me,” Martindale said.
Martindale notes that this service will not release private residence addresses or home addresses, people who opt in to notifications will be notified if a cardiac episode occurs within a quarter-mile of them in a public location—such as downtown Bozeman, the mall, or a school.
