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Concannon Miller Accountant Promotes AED Awareness in Brother's Memory

Posted by Concannon Miller on Mar 29, 2016 8:00:00 AM

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AED.jpgConcannon Miller Senior Staff Accountant Katie Moyer is passionate about helping her clients better their businesses.

She’s also passionate about something else – automated external defibrillator awareness.

Katie’s brother, Greg, died from cardiac arrest as a teenager during a high school basketball game. If the school had had an AED, her brother probably would have survived, her family was told.

 Though devastated by the loss of Greg, Katie’s family has since dedicated itself through raising awareness about the importance of AED accessibility through their Gregory W. Moyer Defibrillator Fund.

When Katie came to Concannon Miller in fall 2014, the company was very interested in her family’s cause. This fall, an AED was purchased for the company’s Bethlehem headquarters and a CPR and AED training class was held, which nine employees participated in. In addition to Katie – who organized the class – participating employees included Harry Gabrielli, Karen Goodman, Denise Hozza, Cheri Palmer-Herb, Donna Kapsa, Chris Thomas, Deb Wehr and Merrily Weld.

Though she hopes it’s never used, Katie says she feels comforted every time she sees the AED in the office.

“It’s just better to be safe than sorry and have them everywhere,” she says. “Just having one here makes me feel safer.”

Having an accessible defibrillator greatly increases the chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest. Early defibrillation – along with CPR – is the only way to restore a heart rhythm to normal in a lot of cases of cardiac arrest, according to the American Heart Association.

For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, however, the chances of survival decrease by 7–10%, according to the AHA. On average, less than 10% of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting survive, the AHA says.

“There have been several lives saved by AEDs purchased through my brother’s fund,” Katie says.

“AEDs are very easy to use,” she advises. “They talk to you – they tell you how to use them. Any layperson can use an AED.”

Concannon Miller's AED is located in the bathroom hallway, closest to the women’s room.

Topics: Employee accomplishments

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