About 1,000 Americans suffer from sudden cardiac arrest every day, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). While that number is significant, where those attacks take place is more alarming: Shopping malls rank third in a recent AHA national study. However, mall owners Glimcher Realty Trust, Columbus, OH, and General Growth Properties Inc., Chicago, IL, have prepared their mall staff to take action by equipping their centers with Agilent Technologies' Heartstream ForeRunner Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs). AED is the breakthrough technology that makes it practical for the mall's emergency first responders to deliver time-critical defibrillation therapy to victims of sudden cardiac arrest. "The [AED] is another way that we think we can help provide a service to the customers that frequent our malls," said John Haller, senior vice president of property management, Glimcher. "It's a very simple device that is very easy to operate. It's designed to dramatically reduce the time it takes to reach victims. But, it's not to be used in lieu of calling 911." Shortly after equipping their malls with the device, a senior citizen at one of Glimcher's malls experienced a cardiac event. "One of our staff people went to get the defibrillator while anther staff person began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the victim," said Haller. In this case, the man regained consciousness before the defibrillator was used, but it was available had it been needed. Employees at the mall and at the corporate offices receive training on the AED. "We feel very comfortable that once the training is completed, our people will be able to utilize the equipment effectively," said Haller. "The technology has gotten to the point that makes it available to novices or non-technically trained individuals," said David Levenberg, corporate director of security and loss prevention, General Growth Properties. "As we get bigger the likelihood [of sudden cardiac arrest] increases and even one serious situation for one of our customers or employees is enough for us to try to find ways to be prepared."