Anticipating the AED is a website that shows its users where the closest AED (Automated External Defibrillator) is to them. Using an interactive map of Central Square, Anticipating the AED guides users to the closest AED and provides information on the AED’s lifesaving capabilities.

Abby's Brief: 

Anticipating the AED is a website that shows its users where the closest AED (Automated External Defibrillator) is to them. Using an interactive map of Central Square, Anticipating the AED guides users to the closest AED and provides information on the AED’s lifesaving capabilities. An AED is used after sudden cardiac arrest, “a life-threatening emergency that occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating.Survival depends on calling 911, starting CPR, and using an AED as soon as possible.” Over 356,000 people in the US experience an out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest (OHSCA) each year, including 23,000 youth under the age of 18. The survival rate of SCA’s in Massachusetts is only 3-5%, which is well below the national average of 10%. An explanation for this is that Massachusetts is one of only a few states that don’t require CPR and AED training for students graduating from high school. When people don’t know or are afraid of how to perform CPR and use an AED, they don’t do anything to save the patient, and if a bystander does not intervene, the rate of survival decreases by 10% for every minute following the arrest. Given these troubling statistics, and a personal story, the creators of Anticipating the AED decided to take action.
The creators of Anticipating the AED believe that anyone at NuVu can benefit from using an interactive AED location map in the event of an emergency. While having an AED at NuVu or in the Central Square Theater building could be very beneficial to its patrons and students, AEDs are very expensive. Businesses have to save money to purchase them. The map starts at NuVu, and it shows directions for how to get to VIM Fitness, a nearby fitness club that is the only business that we interviewed that has an AED. This is likely because all fitness clubs in Massachusetts have to have an AED on-site. Select businesses like public schools and fitness clubs are required to have an AED in Massachusetts. Smaller businesses like restaurants are not required to have one. The map will also include information on what an AED is, how to use one, why it is important to know how to use one, and advice for business owners on why their business should have an AED. Anticipating the AED is easy to use for everyone.