Buquet Distributing Company of Houma has given a generous donation to the local chapter of the American Heart Association to place automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) into the Houma community, with the first placement occurring today at  City Court in Houma. 

About 335,000 people a year die of coronary heart disease without being hospitalized or admitted to an emergency room. That's about half of all deaths from CHD — more than 930 Americans each day. Most of these are sudden deaths caused by cardiac arrest. By having AEDs available in public places many more people will be saved from sudden cardiac arrest. Survival rates drop 10% for every minute that defibrillation is delayed.

AEDs treat the most common cause of sudden cardiac arrest, ventricular fibrillation, a chaotic quivering of the heart, which leaves it unable to effectively pump blood through the body.  During successful defibrillation, an electric shock is used to restore the heart’s normal rhythm.  Too often, people die due to sudden cardiac arrest because a defibrillator is either not available or arrives too late. 

Buquet Distributing is sponsoring the AED placements not only because of the need in the community, but also because of personal experience.

“A few years ago, a member of our family was saved by an AED in an airport so I was aware of the life saving potential these devices could bring to the community,” said J.J. Buquet.

A portion of sales from a new product from Buquet Distributing will go to the purchase and placement of the AEDs . The PEELS brand, targeted to women, is available locally in all grocery stores.

The American Heart Association and Buquet made the first placement at City Court in Houma with the next placement forthcoming at Bayou Towers.  Before placement occurs, these locations are proper training.  An AED operator must know how to recognize the signs of a sudden cardiac arrest, when to activate the Emergency Medical Service system, and how to do CPR. It's also important for operators to receive formal training on the AED model they will use so that they become familiar with the device and are able to successfully operate it in an emergency. Training also teaches the operator how to avoid potentially hazardous situations.

“If by placing these AEDs into our community, we save just one life, then we at Buquet Distributing Company have met our goal,” added Mr. Buquet.

For more information about AEDs or sudden cardiac arrest, please call Kimberly Landry at the American Heart Association at 1-888-352-3824 ext. 7722 or go to americanheart.org.