For the past five years, Trans International has been providing CPR and AED training to its employee first-responders team through an arrangement with Cintas, the distributor of the Defibtech ReviveR™.

One afternoon, the training provided by Cintas trainer Sue Kastenson paid dividends when seven-year company employee Matt Spranger collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest – and the first responders sprang into action. The team members worked together to perform chest compressions and rescue breathing. The Defibtech AED revived Spranger within seconds. "We all know what to do, and when we react, things fall into place," says Trans International first-responder Mariana Tetzlaff. The company's first-response team is organized to cover all work shifts and includes employees from all corners of the building, assuring that responders can reach victims within 30 seconds.

Spranger remembers his wife saying "thank God you were at work and not at home" when sudden cardiac arrest occurred. Says Denise Schmitt, Trans International vice president: "Having an AED and our first-responders team on staff are invaluable to us as a company."