By Jim McDade, ExtendLife Contributing Editor

The American Heart Association has named ExtendLife, Inc. a Multi-Regional Training Center for the association’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) education programs, according to Bill Carter, Executive Administrator of the Chattanooga based training company. “ The overwhelming acceptance of workplace AED programs was the stimulus for this national effort and is the emphasis of the national training program”, explained Mr. Carter.

ExtendLife will serve as a Southern link in a national training network that provides seamless AED training solutions for corporations, industry, and organizations that have a multi-state or national presence. The association’s signature CPR and Basic First Aid curriculums are incorporated into the project, as well. Priority markets include Fortune 500 companies, the hospitality industry, security firms, major airlines, and the federal government. The program is coordinated and administered by the Association’s National Accounts office based in St. Louis, Missouri.

“When receiving CPR alone, a sudden cardiac arrest victim has about a 5 percent chance of survival. OSHA says incorporating an AED in the rescue effort can increase survival rates to nearly 75 percent. Immediate defibrillation can revive more than 90 percent of victims”, says Mr. Carter. He adds, “With such success, it’s easy to understand why OSHA encourages employers to make AEDs available in their workplaces.”

AHA pioneered the first basic course that combines CPR and AED training, HEARTSAVER AED, and ExtendLife conducted Chattanooga's first public AED class in 1999. Since that year, the education company has trained several thousand people in the use of the device and serves as the region’s only full service supplier of AED equipment, training, and medical control. It also offers those services nationwide.

The new multi-regional designation stands as a major achievement for ExtendLife Incorporated, which does business as ExtendLife.net and ExtendLife Training Systems.  According to Mr. Carter, “ExtendLife was the first AHA training center in the South to be offered and to accept this role and we’re one of only 5 in the United States selected to serve corporate America in this effort.”