Where to Find Automated External Defibrillators on Campus

New online list of campus AED locations helps Duke community members be ready in case of cardiac emergency

An AED in wall.
An Automated External Defibrillator in Perkins Library. Photo courtesy of University Communications.

Between visitors, meetings and events, around 600 people per day pass through the sunlight atrium and wood-paneled gathering spaces of Duke’s Karsh Alumni & Visitors Center. Most of these people enter the welcoming complex to begin, or reaffirm their relationship with Duke.

Part of Claudia Attarian’s job is to ensure that everyone who experiences the space does so safely. That’s why Attarian helped procure six Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) that will be installed in the Karsh Alumni & Visitors Center this fall, adding to Duke’s growing total of nearly 70 documented AEDs on campus. The portable, easy-to-use devices are designed to analyze and, if needed, deliver an electrical shock to restore the heart rhythm of someone in sudden cardiac arrest.

Find an AED

See the list of nearly 70 AEDs on Duke's campus so you'll be ready in case of a heart-related emergency.

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“We want to be ready for any situation,” said Attarian, Interim Director of Administration and Operations for Duke Alumni Engagement and Development.

Duke Emergency Management recently compiled a list of nearly 70 locations at Duke where AEDs can be found. From the first floor of the Allen Building by office 116, to the first floor of Wilson Recreation Center near the sign-in desk, the locations offer people who work, live or frequent campus buildings the opportunity to familiarize themselves with where to find the potentially life-saving tool before a cardiac emergency occurs.

“We don’t just want people to know where there’s an AED near their office, we want people to know where one is everywhere they go,” said Chloe Hallberg, Duke’s Executive Director of Business Continuity and Emergency Management, who helps maintain the list.

Matthew Stiegel holds an AED.
Duke Occupational & Environmental Safety Office Director Matthew Stiegel holds an AED which will be installed in the Karsh Alumni & Visitors Center. Photo by Stephen Schramm.

According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), there are around 10,000 sudden cardiac arrests in U.S. workplaces each year. Immediate defibrillation has been shown to help around 60 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims survive.

“I hope we never have to use ours, but we would not want to be in a situation where we needed one and couldn’t get to it,” said Duke Alumni Engagement and Development’s Attarian. “We want to be able to access it quickly.”

In the event of a heart-related emergency, Hallberg said the first thing to do is call 911 and get emergency personnel on the way. After that, if there’s an AED nearby, have someone retrieve it and put it to use.

Once activated, the AED gives users voice prompts to tell them how to attach adhesive pads with electrical connections to the person in distress. Once applied, the machine will analyze the heart rhythm of the patient through the pads and deliver electrical shocks on its own if they’re needed.

“AEDs are very simple, they talk you through it,” Hallberg said. “All you need to know how to do is put stickers on somebody. After that, the AED won’t do anything it deems unnecessary. It knows what to do.”

In addition to providing AED locations, the Duke Emergency website also offers ways to request an AED for a campus building, register an existing AED on campus not yet on the list, and learn about CPR, first aid and safety training through Duke University EMS.

“Anytime you can increase awareness and give people information, it helps them respond better and be more resilient during an emergency,” Hallberg said. “The more tools we can give people, the better. And the more that we can get people acquainted with their surroundings, because Duke can be a big and complicated place, the more prepared they will be.”

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