As good as the Chain of Survival is in the face of a sudden cardiac arrest, the success of the chain relies heavily on the performance of people — and to a lesser extent technology — for it to succeed.

When you get down to the details, some of the folks in the chain are not professionals. Some of the professionals may be having a bad day, and the nature of technology brings a host of various challenges. The variables are myriad, and they all have to come together and work perfectly during an SCA.

How does anyone end up surviving an SCA? Having gone through this myself, I believe most survivors would agree that a good bit of luck was involved. Many times it comes in the form of "right place, right time," but the way luck works can be incredible. If you read survivor stories on the Web, the circumstances and stories of a survivor's events are astounding and tend to feed the concept of luck.

The question then beckons: How do we create more survivor stories and limit the chance of luck? How do we get more people in the "right place at the right time"? Preparation, action and education are the keys.

When you dig in to the Chain of Survival, the people-intensive "links" are the "recognition of SCA" and the "begin CPR" steps. Education and training are the key here. There are a host of good initiatives to build upon in place across the country.

Some states are requiring schools to teach CPR as a graduation element for their students. This helps demystify the efforts at a young age and gets kids comfortable to react and take charge during an SCA.

I also like the mass trainings that some organizations do in a community to educate large groups of people. For example, the "Be a Lifesaver" campaign has used halftime at a University of Arizona basketball game to introduce compression-only CPR to the fans. While certainly not a certification event, a little education can go a long way when it comes to recognizing and acting on an SCA.

The other "people" piece of the survival chain — while less of an in-the-moment reaction, but a crucial decision nonetheless — is the decision to purchase and place AEDs. The survival chain link of "get the AED," only works if there's an AED to get. The victim is 10 times more likely to be a survivor if an AED is near.

The commitment to allow a safe SCA environment can be mired in a host of legal and governmental regulations. But in the end, the burden to comply is nothing when compared to the life that is saved. Whether it's a co-worker, customer, guest, loved one or stranger, the presence of that AED makes the chain strong.

This is how we remove luck. The more we prepare, educate and train those around us, the better our chances are when SCA strikes.

The more AEDs we place in our workplace, schools, churches and gyms, the better. We know it can strike anyone at any time, and that's the scary thing about it. The fact that we can do something about it gives us hope and confidence that we can create more survivors.

Luck doesn't have to be a key part of the survival chain if we embrace the simple steps to fortify the chain and act now. Take the steps in your community to educate the masses and support a stronger survival chain — before your luck runs out.