(Brett Craver, Operations Manager, Eight Black with an AED from the company’s Sprinter and pictured to the right, an AED in a fleet BMW)
Eight Black Transport Innovates By Being First Colorado Transport Provider To Install AED’s In Entire Fleet
Eight Black Executive Transport is a small, independent ground transportation company owned by Simon Chen and earlier this year, won the LCT Operator Of The Year Award in the 1-10 car category.
“We operate a separate business called Longmont Shuttle and 25% of our client base are in an age bracket which is more susceptible to heart related issues like heart attack and cardiac arrest. Cardio Vascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States every year”
“We have a responsibility as a transport operator to ensure our entire staff are adequately trained with regards to First Aid, including CPR and now in the use of defibrillators. Just as important is the need to provide our customers the safest and best equipped vehicles possible”
“Our AED training has been conducted by paramedics as opposed to First Aid instructors who in many cases, have little to no real world experience. Compliance to Colorados AED regulations is overseen by a local Doctor”, says owner, Simon Chen
“AED’s have been mandatory on commercial aircraft since 2004. In 2013, the City Of Denver adopted a program called Save A Life and installed 1000 AED’s through out the city. It makes sense then, and in fact, I believe life saving devices like AED’s should be mandatory in all commercial transportation vehicles”
“Our livery and shuttle vehicles are covering large distances every day. The average journey between Longmont and DIA is around 50 minutes. In winter, our Executive Car Service is transporting families and individuals to all the major ski resorts on a daily basis – and those trips can take anywhere from 2-5 hrs depending on weather and traffic. If the average response time for paramedics is 9 minutes in the Denver metro area, imagine the response time in winter if you were traveling on a major interstate in a snow storm”
“As a transport operator, we need to take responsibility for being able to administer first aid no matter where we are and no matter the conditions. We also need to have access to life saving equipment like defibrillators” Last year, Denver Paramedics saved 52 people from cardiac arrest – that should be enough evidence for any operator to install AED’s in their fleet.