The purpose of this study was to evaluate student knowledge of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) based on their major. In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death, with around 697,000 deaths each year (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). Therefore, education regarding heart health and measures that need to be taken in the event of an emergency are incredibly important. AEDs can be used in the event of sudden cardiac arrest or other emergencies and administer an electrical shock to the heart (American Heart Association, 2017). An anonymous survey was distributed via email to students in the Doisy College of Health Sciences. The original sample included 103 subjects. After eliminating subjects who did not meet the study criteria, 93 subjects were included in the study. The majority of participants are Health Sciences majors (40.9%), Physical Therapy/AthleticTraining were also well represented at 21.5%. The balance of the respondents were from other programs at Doisy College of Health Sciences. The ability to recognize an AED machine according to major findings chi-square = 6.42, p=0.78 and the ability to recognize the AED in an array of photos by major finding of chi-square = 16.1, p=0.71. While the results are not significant, it is important to note that all the majors tested are in the field of health sciences.

References: 

American Heart Association. (2017). What is an automated external defibrillator? -

american heart association. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.heart.org/-/media/files/healthtopics/answers-by-heart/what-is-an-aed.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, September 6). FASTSTATS -

leading causes of death. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October

10, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm

Dr. Elaina Osterbur (elaina.osterbur@health.slu.edu) was my advisor throughout this project. She has helped me every step of the way, and helped put this dream of mine into action. She showed me what the research process was like, and has provided me with so many incredible opportunities.