HARROGATE — Commercial Bank, based in Harrogate, is pleased to announce that 21 branches were equipped with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in 2016.
In August of 2016, 45 employees from various branches attended training, where they received certifications in First Aid, CPR, AED, and Bloodborne Pathogens. At least one employee from each branch is trained to use the recently placed AEDs. Another training is planned for March of 2017, where an additional 15-20 employees will attend. AEDs are in every branch except for our Nashville Loan Production Office, which does have an AED accessible in the building.
Charles Lewis, Executive Vice President, Non-Traditional Banking Services, led the mission to have an AED in every branch after he experienced cardiac arrest at a local elementary school just a few years ago.
Lewis said, “I owe my life to the AED and can certainly endorse having them.” Lewis was playing basketball when he collapsed, and was not responding to CPR. Thanks to a lesson taught by one of the fifth grade teachers on Valentine’s Day about heart health, a student remembered the AED at their school, which was used to save Lewis’ life.
Sudden cardiac arrest is the number one killer in the workplace, but Automated External Defibrillators are critical live-saving devices. While calling 9-1-1 and performing CPR are vital, the single most effective treatment is defibrillation. The AEDs in the Commercial Bank branches are provided and serviced by Cintas. They are user friendly, only requiring two adhesive patches to be attached to the patient. The machine can read the heart rhythms and then display whether or not the user should push the shock button. By having an AED in the workplace, lives can be saved within the first few minutes, before an ambulance could arrive.
Commercial Bank is proud to partner with the American Heart Association. Commercial Bank branches raise money and participate in the AHA Tri-Cities Heart Walk each year. In addition to wearing red on National Wear Red Day on Feb. 3, the bank also recently sponsored a “My heart. My Life.” campaign, encouraging people to make heart health a priority.