Save a Life....Maybe Your Own!
New in August 2008! Everyone visiting the Maryland SoccerPlex at South Germantown Recreational Park should be aware of these two lifesaving systems available at the SoccerPlex.
AED Locations
AEDs, Automated External Defibrillators, are installed and available at the Maryland SoccerPlex at each of the comfort stations and on the wall just inside the front door of the Discover Sports Center. An additional unit is under installation and may be available for the 2008 August Cup near fields 8 and 9.
An automated external defibrillator or AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm.
Coaches, Team Managers and Parents - Please make sure your players know how important an AED can be and that units should not be touched except for in an emergency.
Lightning Detection and Warning System
The Maryland SoccerPlex has installed a weather monitoring system that includes an advanced lightning detection system that monitors and detects electrostatic energy in the atmosphere. As that energy begins to migrate and shift into the monitored region the system, will begin a series of alert notifications consisting of "Caution", "Warning", and finally "Red" alert in order to allow adequate time to seek shelter prior to the arrival of severe weather. Once it is safe to resume activities, the system provides an "All Clear" notification.
When the system reaches "Red" alert status, an automated process of visual and audible alarms takes place. The visual alert consists of flashing strobes on the Discovery Sports Center and the audible alarms are air horns covering the entire SoccerPlex. With potentially thousands of people at the Soccerplex at any time, the system will automatically advise them to seek cover by initializing the strobe lights and sounding a loud 15 second air horn blast. When conditions become safe to resume activities at "All Clear", the lights stop flashing and audible alarms sound 3 short 5 second blasts.
Lightning is the most dangerous and frequently encountered weather hazard people experience each year and is the number-one cause of storm related deaths. There are approximately 100,000 thunderstorms in the U.S. each year and Americans are twice as likely to die from lightning than from hurricane, tornado, or flood. The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates there are 200 deaths and 750 severe injuries from lightning each year in the U.S.
Most lightning strikes occur either at the beginning or at the end of a storm and the average strike is six miles long. Lightning reaches 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, four times as hot as the sun’s surface with the voltage in a cloud-to-ground strike reaching 100 million to 1 billion volts. 70% of all lightning injuries and fatalities occur in the afternoon.
