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“By the time the patient was loaded onto the ambulance, we had a steady heartbeat. I was able to show (EMS) the incident QR code, they were able to scan that and provide it to the hospital that the patient was taken to.”
Case Study | High School in Central CA
The Power of Preparedness: How AED Advocacy by a High School Athletic Trainer Saved a Life
When
April, 2024
Where
High School in Central CA
Avive Connect AEDs
1
“The compactness of the Avive AED, where I didn’t have to struggle and it’s not too heavy — I was able to just throw it on the floor, open it up, and apply it right away.”
Victoria Yost
High School Athletic Trainer
Central California
Central California
27 SECONDS
from activation to pads placed
42 SECONDS
from activation to first shock analysis
3 MINUTES
from pads placed to shock delivered
Victoria Yost
High School Athletic Trainer
Central California
Victoria Yost is the Athletic Trainer at a high school in Central California, the very same school she attended as a student. Since taking on the role in 2016, she’s served her campus community of 1,800 students (including 750 athletes, 200 band participants) and 100 staff members for nearly a decade.
The campus is equipped with five AEDs: four stationary units located in the gym, pool snack bar, nurse’s office, and administrative building, and one mobile Avive AED that Victoria carries on her golf cart for athletic coverage and travel. Recognizing that many athletic facilities are far from stationary AEDs, Victoria successfully advocated for both the golf cart and the mobile AED.
She was initially drawn to Avive’s compact, portable design, along with its intuitive audio-visual prompts, training cartridge, and simple Spanish and pediatric toggle features. The district ultimately chose Avive for its portability and GPS tracking capabilities.
In April 2024, Victoria played a crucial role in saving a life during a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) on campus, just two hours after receiving the new Avive AED. Although it wasn’t fully set up yet, she decided on a whim to bring it with her on the golf cart that day. Multiple events were underway, including JV softball, tennis, and JV baseball. While stationed at JV baseball, she was alerted to a collapsed spectator in the stands.
Victoria quickly responded, drove to the scene, directed bystanders to lower the patient to the ground, and applied the Avive AED. Pads were placed within 1 - 1.5 minutes of the initial collapse. The AED’s user-friendly design helped streamline care, and EMS confirmed the patient had a steady heartbeat upon transport. Victoria used the Avive device’s QR code feature to instantly retrieve and share incident data with EMS and the receiving hospital.
During an interview, Victoria emphasized the importance of the Spanish-language toggle button. With a significant portion of students and staff being native Spanish speakers or English-language learners, this feature gives her confidence that anyone on campus could use the device in an emergency.
Thanks to her foresight, training, and decisive action, Victoria helped save a life, solidifying her impact as both a caregiver and leader on campus.
“The fact that there’s a Spanish button is very reassuring. I work and live in a heavily populated Hispanic community. The Spanish button allows bystanders here to help. If I'm giving compressions and the person assisting doesn’t speak English, it’s reassuring that they can still be told what to do.”
Victoria Yost
High School Athletic Trainer
Central California
Central California
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