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Forsyth County’s
4 Minute Community™ Program

Neighbors helping neighbors survive
Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

Every second counts when Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) strikes, and the gap between survival and tragedy can be a matter of minutes. While first responders are vital, survival often depends on the actions of those nearby.

Forsyth County’s 4 Minute Community™ Program empowers citizens with the tools and training to bridge the gap between the moment of collapse and the arrival of professional help. By creating a network of Avive Connect AED®s and trained citizens, we’re building a safer, more proactive community—ensuring that when someone needs lifesaving help, there are caring neighbors ready to respond.

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Proudly building safer communities.

We know that time saves lives. That's what's important. When someone calls 911, they expect someone to show up at their door almost immediately offering them assistance. And as much pride as we take in responding out quickly, we can't be there immediately. The Four Minute Community concept helps fill that gap from the first 911 call into the arrival of a public safety component, fire or EMS or law enforcement. By having AEDs in the community readily accessible to the public to be able to render aid to someone in need quickly, that helps fill that gap before public safety can arrive on scene.

Jason Shivers
Division Chief, Forsyth County Fire Department

AED utilization is low because many bystanders do not know where devices are located. Additionally, they are often unaware when emergencies occur nearby - this is where our new program partnering with Avive Solutions brings the Avive AED which helps to solve this problem. The Avive AED along with our partners at our [911] communication center can be dispatched directly to these emergencies. So when a bystander comes across somebody who's suffering from Sudden Cardiac Arrest, the AED can be activated from the dispatch center and be directed right to the scene of that emergency and provide care.

Colin Johnson
Deputy Chief of Lee County Emergency Medical Services

This new technology has the potential to help us when cardiac arrest patients arrive at our hospital to know more about what may have happened leading to their cardiac arrest. Today, when these patients arrive at the hospital, we often only get a verbal report about what people think happened before EMS arrival. This new system can provide real data from these cardiac arrest emergencies before EMS arrives on scene. Our doctors are very excited and feel this is a game-changer. They believe this will definitely be another tool to help save lives.

Dr. Jeffrey Marshall
Chief of Northside Hospital Cardiovascular Institute

Lifesaving impact of the 4 Minute Community™ in Forsyth County, GA.

270+
CARE team responders
272,887
Population covered through the 4MC AEDs

The importance of early defibrillation.

4%

historic survival rates of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Forsyth County.1

2%

only 2% of cardiac arrest patients receive AED treatment before EMS arrives.2

53%

when an AED is used for OHCA by a bystander prior to EMS arrival, survival rates jump to 53%

  1.  https://www.northside.com/about/news-center/articles/2023/02/27/forsyth-county-becomes-latest-4-minute-city
  2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3008654/#
  3. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.029067

About the 4 Minute Community™.

See CARE team video

Avive’s 4 Minute Community™ Program takes a new approach to increasing survival from out-of-hospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest by helping to bridge the gap in cardiac care during emergencies. Through widespread community training and strategic placement of Avive Connect AEDs - in neighborhoods and homes - 911 dispatchers can alert nearby citizens when and where their AED needs to be used. All with the goal of making a lifesaving shock from an AED available within 4 minutes of accepting the alert.

Goals of the 4 Minute Community™:

Decrease time-to-defibrillation
A man running with the AED in hand
Increase bystander intervention
Create a connected pre-hospital system of SCA response
Bridge the actions of bystanders, 911, first responders, and healthcare providers
A medical professional giving CPR

The CARE team.

The CARE (Cardiac Arrest Rapid Engagement) Team is a group of citizen volunteers strategically located across a community who are equipped with an Avive Connect AED®. CARE Team members are recruited in coordination with local First Responders, trained in CPR/AED use and volunteer response safety, and empowered to respond quickly when alerted to neighbor in need.

See CARE team video