Congress Pushes for AED's in Schools

By Robert Davis, USA TODAY

A grass-roots push to put defibrillators into every school — to revive children who suffer cardiac arrest as well as their teachers, custodians and visiting family members — may get a jolt from Congress.

Nobody knows today how many people collapse inside schools or at school sporting events from cardiac arrest, but cities and states have begun counting the numbers of lives saved by defibrillators in schools. The devices are required in federal buildings and airliners. An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a computerized device that talks users, including children, through lifesaving steps to zap a dying heart back to a normal beat during a cardiac arrest.

In Ohio, 13 lives have been saved with school defibrillators since 2005. In New York, 38 lives have been saved since 2002.

FIGHTING FOR DEFIBRILLATORS: Grassroots group targets halls of Congress

Schools are a logical place to put defibrillators, doctors say, because on any given day as much as 20% of a community's population passes through its schools.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Congress | Ohio | Josh Miller | Emergency Medical Services | John Acompora

Though many of the people saved by the defibrillators have been adults, the preventable deaths of children have fueled the grass-roots efforts. That includes 15-year-old Josh Miller of Barberton, Ohio, who died during a high school football game on Oct. 27, 2000.

His death is part of what is driving the effort in Congress to pass a bill that would provide federal matching money to help put the $1,000 devices in every school. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, calls for 3-to-1 federal matching funds to pay for defibrillators in schools.

"It's a great idea," says Peter Moyer, Boston's medical director for the Emergency Medical Services. "It will save lives, it's good for student self-esteem and introduces students to health careers."

Boston — which has one of the best track records of saving victims of cardiac arrest — has had automated external defibrillators in all of its public high schools and some of its elementary schools. Medics teach CPR and defibrillator use at the high schools. Similar efforts are underway in Nashville, where the fire department has trained health teachers to become CPR and AED instructors. The goal is to certify every ninth- and 10th-grader in CPR and AED use. So far, 70 of 132 schools have the devices.

Across Tennessee, there have been 22 cardiac arrests at schools over the past five years, says Mark Meredith, medical director for Nashville's Public Access Defibrillation program. An AED was used to revive six of those people at the school.

Getting a shock from a defibrillator within just a few minutes of cardiac arrest is key to saving these people. The odds of survival decrease 10% for every minute that a victim goes without such a shock, meaning that waiting for the typical EMS response to a 911 call is most often fatal.

"We've got the best paramedics in the world," says Terry Gordon, an Akron cardiologist who pushed for every school in Ohio to have a defibrillator in the wake of Miller's death. "But they may be on another call or stuck in traffic, and they just can't get there fast enough."

AED and RITE used on Unconscious man on Airplane

Here is another Automated Electronic Defibrillator success story. This one involves 3 NYC firefighters on-board with their new invention the "Rapid Intervention Tactical Evacuation" known as "RITE", which they would be demonstrating to a manufacturer a short while later.

Here is part of the article:

Bravest, sure, but maybe the Smartest, too

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Sunday, October 21st 2007
Michael Daly

The invention is designed to be compact, but it would not fit in an overhead compartment, and a flight attendant stashed it in a closet in first class.

The three inventors were flying coach, and they settled into a row of seats toward the back as Delta Flight 17 to Atlanta prepared to depart from Kennedy Airport on Monday morning.

The plane was just beginning to roll away from the gate when a young man jumped up two rows in front of the inventors. He began to tug at an older man who had slumped over in the seat next to him.

"Papa! Papa!" the young man called out.

The fear in his face was unmistakable as he continued trying to rouse the older man.

"Sit down!" a flight attendant ordered.

"Papa! Papa!" the young man continued.

The inventors leapt up and rushed over. The older man appeared to be unconscious, and the inventors raised his limp arm over his head and let go. A conscious person will instinctively move his falling hand so as not to strike himself.

The man's hand struck his face, confirming this was more serious than a little drowsiness. The inventors learned anew the difficulty of moving a full-grown unconscious person in a tight space as they shifted the man to the bulkhead area. They announced themselves to the startled passengers and crew.

"We're New York City firemen! Get out of the way!"

Firefighter Tommy Fee put his fingertips against the man's carotid artery. He felt no pulse and did chest compressions as retired Lt. Frank Haskell called for the defibrillator aboard all flights. Planes also carry an oxygen tank, and retired Lt. Mike Harty got that going.

A flight attendant brought the defibrillator. The firefighters tore open the man's shirt and applied the two pads. A mechanical voice crackled from the device.

"Analyzing patient.... Prepare to shock. ... Step away. ... Shock."

Fee hit the red button marked Shock. The resulting jolt of electricity made the man's body jump.

"Analyzing patient."

The firefighters saw a bounding line on the defibrillator's small monitor screen.

"Back to life," Fee later said.

To learn more about the RITE success story and how the patient is doing, click on the word.

Defibrillator Credited in Saving Rochester, MN Man's Life

Reliving Death
Jenna Gordon
KTTC TV

ROCHESTER, MN -- Considered dead, a Rochester man makes a miraculous recovery thanks to two off-duty police officers and a heart shocking machine. Now a year and a half later, NewsCenters Jenna Gordon takes us to Saint Marys where the survivor listens to his life changing day.

In May of 2006, Al Fritsche's life changed forever. He had just run 20 miles in Soldiers Field Park preparing for an upcoming marathon and was on his way home.

"Walking along here and kept getting dizzier and dizzier, and so I went to lean on the fence and the last thing I remember is looking out in the golf course," says Fritsche.

Off duty officers Gretchen and John O'Neill drove by the park and thought something just wasn't quite right. It could be said it was fate that the two off duty officers saw Al through all these trees and shrubs to where he laid standing getting dizzy and eventually falling down.

"For her to notice this runner looked like he was in trouble rather than just resting. I owe my life to her and John," say Fritsche.

Al had gone into Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

The two officers called for help and started CPR. And only minutes later another officer came with a defibrillator, which ended up saving his life.

"What a pleasure to see you right here today."

Defibrillators record sound and for the first time in a year and a half Al is listening to his fateful day.

"Heart rhythm. Come on Al, Come on Al."

"He was dead."

"It's a, makes me realize how lucky I am. All these people helping," says Fritsche.

"In at least 64 percent of people the hearts fibrillate at least one time and that's what happened in Al's case, So that required a 2nd shock," says Dr. White.

Dr. White says Al's case was a best case scenario. "His arrest was witnesses, he was attended to properly a defibrillator in a police car was made available and he was shocked properly and he regained pulses," says Dr. White.

"I was in a different place. Very calm, peaceful and quiet. I never felt anything like it before in my life. It was wonderful," says Fritsche.

Al woke up the next morning feeling great, like his heart never gave out. He says he wouldn't change the experience no matter how life threatening.

"I'm really glad it happened to be frank about it. It confirms a feeling I had that death is not to be feared," says Fritsche.

And listening to this life changing event, Al says he's got a life changing look on life.

Dr. White began a program where defibrillators are in most emergency response vehicles, and he says in Rochester they've saved 101 lives since the program started in 1990.

Petersborough, a Small city in Ontario takes the lead installing AED's

Another small town sees the benefit of AEDs and has been installing and training city employees how to use them. Here is part of the story from the Peterborough Examiner describing their plans to purchase even more automated external defibrillators.

Shocking help; Portable defibrillators helpful; healthy lifestyle even better
Editorial - Friday, June 22, 2007 Updated @ 7:28:38 AM

If there is such a thing as a good place in Ontario to have a heart attack, Peterborough is on the list.

The reason? Portable defibrillators. Five years ago Peterborough was the first smaller city in the province to install the units in public buildings and train employees to use them.

At the time, automated external defibrillators were put in the Memorial Centre, Evinrude and Kinsmen arenas. A year later Trent University and Sir Sandford Fleming College each got one.

Last year four were installed at the Robinson Place provincial government building at Water and Charlotte streets.

And on Wednesday, Peterborough city and county went on the list of six communities that will get the first wave of an army of the potentially life-saving machines that are being financed by the Ministry of Health Promotion, the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation and a private company, Transamerica Life of Canada.

The city will get seven more of the portable units. Peterborough County gets its first 18 units. They are worth $3,000 apiece.

The program will also pay to train eight to 10 employees at each of the locations to use them....

Athletic club saves man's life

For the second time in a little over a year a quick-thinking worker at a Superior Athletic Club saved a heart attack victim's life using an emergency defibrillator.

A man in his 50s collapsed early Friday on a racquetball court at the fitness center on Cardley Avenue in Medford.

Michelle Gordon was working the front desk when a man approached her seeking help. She gave the man a trauma bag containing the automated external defibrillator (AED) and called 9-1-1, said club manager Dee Gillen.

The man soon returned, saying the victim had stopped breathing. Gordon then sprung into action, Gillen said.

"She was helped by two club members," Gillen said. "Michelle applied the pads and they were able to deliver the shock that saved him."

The man's identity was not available at press time. Fortunately for him, the two members who helped him happened to be a firefighter and a nurse.

In November 2005, a similar incident occurred at the Superior Athletic Club on Barnett Road. A woman collapsed during a racquetball game and was saved by a club employee who knew how to use an AED.

"The AEDs cost only around $2,000, but are so worth it," Gillen said.

Superior Athletic Club has AEDs in place in all three of its locations. Employees are trained how to use them during a heart saver course they attend.

Gordon and the two club members will receive American Heart Association awards.

Gillen said Oregon has no law mandating that fitness clubs are equipped with AEDs. She hopes the Legislature does something about that soon.

"More and more states are requiring them," Gillen said. "I'd like to see Oregon move that way."

CPR Training and the effectiveness of using an AED

An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is a self-contained defibrillator device designed for portability and ease of use. AEDs are available for $1000 for a basic model to several thousand dollars for a more fully-featured or durable model. There is limited evidence to suggest that biphasic defibrillation is superior to monophasic defibrillators, although the small capacitor size required for the defibrillator can create significant cost and size savings-- essential for the proliferation of Automated External Defibrillators.

Automated External Defibrillators are commonly found in large gathering places, such as airports, casinos, sports stadiums, and college campuses. Solid-gel electrodes are more convenient, because there is no need to clean the patient's skin after removing the electrodes. The apex electrode is applied to the left side of the patient, just below and to the left of the pectoral muscle.

While ventricular fibrillation is still the major primary rhythm in cardiac arrest, nowadays available AEDs can be used especially by the trained and even untrained laymen. Untrained laypersons are able to use AEDs quickly and safely. Claude Beck successfully revived a patient in an operating room using an open-chest electric defibrillation device, which had been designed by him and then built by his friend James Rand.

Studies and Research on AED's:
One study offered students a new teaching strategy called "learning by teaching", where medical students trained SCD survivors at their homes in BLS and the use of an AED. In one study three physicians skilled in providing and teaching advanced life support (certified instructors of the European Resuscitation Council) were present and recorded data while each student operated the AED. Out of 127 trainees, 87 (69%) were rated by their trainers as that they can deal with failures/disturbances of the AED by themselves.

Facts to Consider:
Since the first clinical use of AEDs in the early 1980s, developments in technology have led to initiatives by health and governmental organizations to develop PAD programs. Many monitor defibrilators provide three, five or 12-lead EKG monitoring to compensate for this downfall of the paddles. For many years, the American Heart Association has postulated inclusion of AED use in basic life support training.

AED Usage and Training:
Many students consider that as AEDs are more or less self-explaining, learning by doing would be the best way to teach CPR and BLS. When a patient has been admitted due to heart concerns, and the physician or nurse has determined that he or she is at risk of arrhythmia, they may apply adhesive electrodes to the patient in anticipation of any concerns that may arise. There is evidence that use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) by laypersons improves rates of survival from cardiac arrest, but there is no consensus on the optimal content and duration of training for this purpose.

Automated Edternal Defibrillators are designed to provide immediate defibrillation to high-risk patients. The implementation of PAD programmes in the future will depend mainly on the willingness of the public to participate in AED or cardiopulmonary resuscitation courses.

Learn about defibrillators, their differences and where to buy them.

Please check back often as information will be added pertaining to the Automated External Defibrillator also known as an AED