How A Defribillator(AED) Can Save Your Life
Defibrillators are those devices you’ve probably seen in TV dramas,
where someone has suffered a heart attack and is in cardiac arrest,
but is brought back to life from the brink by an electric shock from
two metal plates applied to the victim’s chest.One or two jolts of
electricity and the victim regains consciousness and his heart is
beating again. A dying heart patient’s life is saved.
These life-saving devices are called external defibrillators and used to
be found only in medical facilities. Now, however, portable
defibrillators, called automated external defribillators,or AED’s for
short, are required by Federal law to be standard equipment on
airliners and are increasingly becoming part of many public service
operations.The reason? They prevent heart attacks from taking lives.
There’s been an uproar here in Chicago where I live because AED’s are
not required by local authorities to be on commuter trains and public
transit vehicles. And there have been a half-dozen cases on trains in
the past two years where someone suffered a heart attack or another
type of cardiac incident and died on the train or platform or in
the ambulance. Sadly, most of them would have survived if an AED had
been present and used to revive them. CPR alone is not enough. CPR plus an AED will increase survival rates dramatically.
Cardiac arrest kills 350,000 people each year in the U.S. alone.S.
alone and all but 10% don’t survive.But those who did survive had
the benefit of being revived with an AED by someone who was present and
administered the shock treatment.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the use of AED’s by police in
Rochester, Minnesota,and by security guards at O’Hare and Midway
Airports and at Las Vegas casinos have achieved a 50% to 75% survival
rate for adults who suffered sudden cardiac arrest.
So why aren’t there more AED’s in public places for these types of emergencies? Well, to begin with,they cost
$1,000 to $1,500. So if Chicago, for example, has 600 buses,another 1000
subway cars, it becomes a cost factor. Others say you
need a medical professional to operate the device.But AED’s are
really quite simple to operate. They’re very simple to operate.
AED’s are true lifesavers. And if you or a relative
have high risk factors for heart disease, you might want to purchase one
for your home. People are experiencing difficult financial times these days. But is your husband or wife’s life
worth $1,000? Just reflect on it for a moment.
Tags: AED, AED's, ambulance, arrest, attack, automatic, cardiac, CPR, defribillator, defribillators, electric, electricity, external, heart, life, lives, save, shock, treatment
