A defibrillator has been utilized only once this year after the University placed the devices in several campus buildings in September. The incident took place earlier this semester when University officials attempted to revive a homeless man outside of Ross Hall.

The defibrillators allow students to provide immediate care to sudden cardiac arrest victims.

The devices are available in all University Police vehicles, the lobby of the Marvin Center, and the Health and Wellness Center to “protect faculty and students,” said EMeRG coordinator Kimberly Stambler, who oversees the defibrillator program.

“This is not a waste of money, even if we have the possibility to save one life a year, it’s worth it,” said Stambler, referring to the expenditure of $64,000 on the devices.

Stambler said UPD officers failed to resuscitate the 50-year-old homeless man because there were no witnesses who saw him go into cardiac arrest and he was unconscious for an unknown amount of time before being found.

Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops abruptly without warning. The stoppage is typically caused by ventricular fibrillation, an abnormality in the heart’s electrical system that precipitates the irregular beating of heart cells.

A defibrillator works to correct this stoppage by sending controlled electrical impulses to the heart and restoring a normal rhythm of beating.

About 250,000 people die each year from cardiac arrest, according to the American Heart Association. Arrest victims who are treated with a defibrillator see their chances of survival increase by up to 90 percent.

The devices are designed to be “user friendly” and provide step-by-step instructions that determine whether a person should be shocked. Under the federal Good Samaritan Law, people who use the machine incur no liability.

“You should not be afraid to use them. Basically you press the on button and it verbalizes the instructions,” Stambler said.

She said bystanders must act immediately if someone enters cardiac arrest. Last January, a male professor was successfully resuscitated after suffering a heart attack on G Street.

Paramedics from the D.C. Fire Department, who were stationed a block away at the 2119 G St. firehouse, treated the professor.

“Normally you are not going to be within walking distance from a fire department when it occurs. Time is critical, and if you have (a defibrillator) you are cutting precious time,” Stambler said.

With the addition of defibrillators, GW has joined the D.C. Heart Safe Community, which was created to increase public access to defibrillators at workplaces and institutions throughout the city. Other locations that house defibrillators include the Woodhull House and the lobbies of the Smith Center and New and Thurston halls.

Officials will be installing additional devices in the Hall on Virginia Avenue lobby, Gelman Library and the Aston in the next few months.

GW is the only university in the District to have defibrillators, although universities across the nation have purchased the devices.

“On any given day we have approximately 30,000 people who pass through our campus,” UPD Chief Dolores Stafford said. “By having these units available we are potentially saving lives and getting involved in a good program.”

Even though older adults are more susceptible to heart failure, college students can still go into cardiac arrest, said Stambler, who noted that the campus sees thousands of adult visitors each day.

“It can affect a typical student,” Stambler said. “Just because you have not been affected by it yet does not mean you are not at risk.”