July 6 article in a local Seattle-area newspaper: "Defibrillators Everywhere?"
southcountyjournal.com
Click on "Archives Index" at right of screen, then scroll down to article.
This paper serves the large King County region South of Seattle.
It competes with and supplements the Seattle Times and PI.
I will call the reporter, and ask who makes the machine pictured.
King County is a leader in emergency medical services, providing an early model for 911.
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I don't know how long the item will be in the archives, so I copied it here:
--- 7/6/97 Defibrillators everywhere?
King County Emergency Services official hopes the heart-shocking devices will be common as fire extinguishers
By Kristin Kenney Williams
Journal Reporter
ISSAQUAH -- Like a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall, a defibrillator may someday soon be a common sight.
Automatic external defibrillators, popular props on such television shows as `` ER -- and `` Chicago Hope,'' provide an electric shock to the heart to start it beating again.
Within the next five years, the small, lightweight devices would be placed in public safety vehicles, casinos, parks, homes, retirement communities and banks, if Alidene Doherty, research coordinator with King County Emergency Medical Services, has any say about it.
Currently, King County fire and medic crews carry the defibrillators.
Each year more than 250,000 people die when they suffer cardiac arrest, according to the American Heart Association.
Doherty's goal is to improve public access to defibrillators.
When attempting to save a victim of sudden cardiac arrest, CPR extends the period of time a shock to the heart may be effective, Doherty explained. The victim will die without a hit of electric shock.
Doherty sparked the interest of the Issaquah Fire Department to help her determine whether the lay person could learn to use an automatic external defibrillator. Last December, 144 people enrolled in the fire department's free CPR classes and took part in Doherty's research project.
`` It's easier to learn than CPR,'' Doherty said.
The defibrillator automatically analyzes a victim's condition. A voice prompt tells the rescuer whether to administer a shock.
The participants in the Issaquah study were trained to use the defibrillator, using CPR mannequins for patients. Two to three months later, group members were tested to see if they remembered how to use the life-saving device.
They did. `` Our results were excellent,'' Doherty said.
Doherty wants to develop a program that will benefit not only Issaquah residents but will be adopted by other cities.
Issaquah fire chief Jim Rankin would like to see police officers trained to use the device and then carry the defibrillator in their squad cars. Within the next year or two, Rankin wants such high-traffic businesses as Target and Costco to have a defibrillator in their buildings. The fire department would provide training to employees, he said.
Making defibrillators more accessible to the public will take time, however. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration requires that manufacturers sell defibrillators only to people who are trained to use them. A physician's prescription is necessary before one can be placed in the home. The cost of an automatic external defibrillator is to be considered before placing them in every police car: about $3,500. |
