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Senior Project - Defibrillators for Schools
By MARTI MAGUIRE, Newsobserver.com
SMITHFIELD -- Cynthia Patterson can pick out the
spot on the Smithfield-Selma High School basketball
court where 16-year-old Quentin Brown died suddenly
of heart failure during a 1996 game. As a student
athlete who is genetically predisposed to a sudden
death like Brown's, the memory stayed with her.
So the Smithfield-Selma High senior undertook an
impressive task for her senior project -- raising
enough money to put a defibrillator in each of Johnston's
six high schools.
Defibrillators give an electric shock that can restore
a normal heartbeat during cardiac arrest. Public access
to them is considered the best way to prevent the
estimated 100 student-athlete deaths from sudden cardiac
arrest that occur nationwide each year.
The American Heart Association lists these signs
of cardiac arrest:
* Sudden loss of responsiveness. No response to gentle
shaking.
* No normal breathing. The victim does not take a
normal breath when you check for several seconds.
* No signs of circulation. No movement or coughing.
If cardiac arrest occurs, the association recommends
calling 911 and beginning cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
If an automated external defibrillator and someone
trained to use it are nearby, involve them...Complete
Article
School Administrator, Oct, 2003 by Kristin Hanson
1 Pick a program
coordinator and a medical consultant. A physician's
prescription is necessary to buy an AED. The prescription
can come from any licensed M.D. or D.O. (such as the
school physician, a volunteer parent or even your
own doctor). In the case of an event involving the
AED, the physician and program coordinator should
review the incident and response, and assess whether
any quality-improvement adjustments could be made
to the emergency response plan.
2 Review state laws and regulations. All U.S. states
have Good Samaritan laws that provide immunity from
legal liability when using an AED to help someone.
Some states also have laws that mandate the presence
of an AED in schools or at school events. Laws vary
from state to state. (See www.early-defib.org.)...Complete
Article
School Administrator, Oct, 2003 by Mary Newman
During a tragic week in January 2003, three students
from different schools in New York City suddenly collapsed
in cardiac arrest. Catherine Bodden, 16, was in the
classroom; Kimario Green, 19, was in gym class; and
Randy Collote, 13, was trying out for base, ball.
The schools did not have automated external defibrillators
(AEDs) handy, and all three students died. [paragraph]
Do schools in your community have AEDs? If they don't,
it may be time for a change...Complete
Article
School Administrator, Oct, 2003 by Mary Newman
It's been said that there is nothing more painful
than losing a child. When a child dies suddenly from
cardiac arrest, the loss can be particularly traumatic
in light of the assumption that this doesn't happen
to children ... and the fact that the cure for most
cases, rapid defibrillation, is so well established.
Perhaps it is this deep anguish, and the need to draw
some good out of it, that has motivated a growing
number of parents to become champions for AED placement
in schools...Complete
Article
Business Wire, Feb 12, 2004 Business Editors/Health/Medical
Writers
CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 2004
ZOLL Medical Corporation (NASDAQ: ZOLL), a manufacturer
of non-invasive cardiac resuscitation devices, today
announced an agreement with the American Red Cross
to make ZOLL's existing automated external defibrillator
(AED), the AED Plus(TM), more accessible to the public
and businesses nationwide through the Red Cross network
of local chapters, as an accessory to CPR and AED
training. The Red Cross will focus on increasing defibrillation
awareness by providing access to AEDs and AED ancillary
items in conjunction with its mission to provide lifesaving
CPR/AED training...Complete
Article
Districts are required to equip gyms with defibrillators
by 2006 PJStar.com, October 11, 2004 by Angela
Green
PEORIA - It appears cash-strapped District 150 will
have to come up with about another $100,000 in its
next budget to ensure all of its schools are outfitted
with a lifesaving device called an automatic external
defibrillator.
The equipment, called an AED for short, cuts down
the response time for treating a victim of sudden
cardiac arrest and could mean the difference between
life and death, according to local health officials.
By 2006, every school district in the state will
be required to equip their indoor gym areas with one
or more of the machines, which roughly cost between
$1,500 and $3,000 each, and provide training on how
to use them.
But many area superintendents worry that this latest
unfunded state mandate, while a good cause, could
be yet another budget headache for schools that don't
have a few thousand dollars - or more - to readily
spare... Complete
Article
Local health officials say $3,000 price tag, need
for special training make devices unsuitable for home
use in most cases The Courier, by Amee Bohrer
Even though the federal Food and Drug Administration
last week approved over-the-counter sales of automated
external defibrillators, local medical officials say
not only are they unnecessary, in most cases the $3,000
cost might be better spent elsewhere.
The only time they agree the devices could be useful
is if there is a pre-existing heart condition in the
home.
The machines work by using an electrical shock to
stop the heart from quivering, or fibrillating, and
stimulate it back its natural rhythm.
The machines have been introduced in such public
institutions as airports, schools, work places, shopping
malls, sport complexes and places of worship for a
couple years... Complete
Article
HarvardHillside.com, by M.E. Jones HARVARD
-- "Once you start ... don't abandon" the
task, Lynne Kennefick was saying. The first aid trainer
was talking about cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or
CPR, the subject of a course she conducted for a group
of elementary-school teachers in the Harvard Elementary
School (HES) cafeteria.
Though she didn't say so, the admonition might also
apply to the commitment these 18 teachers had made
to learn a skill that saves lives.
The two-hour session consisted of a comprehensive
lecture and slide presentation, demonstrations and
hands-on instruction. The course ends with a test
for CPR certification, which is renewed every two
years.
CPR is a continuous process, the instructor said.
And unless the person performing it gets too "exhausted,"
he or she should stick with it until someone else
takes over, a doctor, nurse or emergency services
pro like Kennefick, who has 15 years experience in
the field and serves on the Harvard Ambulance Squad...
Complete Article
School Administrator, Oct, 2003 by Shannon Bulger
Not much happens in my hometown of Sammamish, Washington.
So when Sean Shipler, a 14-year, old football star,
went into sudden cardiac arrest in the middle of gym
class, it had a major impact on the community. There
was no AED at the school, and although people did
CPR, it took 10 minutes for the paramedics to arrive
with a defibrillator. Sean lived, but he suffered
permanent neurological damage.
I was a junior that year, and although I hardly knew
Sean, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened.
I envisioned him lying comatose, not dead, but hardly
alive. I pictured his mother holding his hand, remembering
the last words he had said to her that day before
he left for school. I imagined his father, torn between
work and family, desperately encouraging the doctors
to do more...Complete
Article
School Administrator, Oct, 2003 by Mary Newman
It was March 12, 2003, and Pittsburgh's Penn Hills
High School was playing against Chartiers Valley High
School in the varsity basketball finals. Matt Strauss,
a 17-years-old junior, was there to cheer on his team.
The tension was high, with seconds left to play and
Penn Hills down by only a few points, when Matt heard
a loud thud behind him. About 10 rows back, 48-year-old
Martin Gannon had collapsed on the bleachers. Instinctively,
Matt grabbed the AED at his feet and rushed to help.
Two physicians who happened to be sitting nearby began
CPR, assisted by a parent who had been trained in
CPR and AED use. Matt hooked up the AED and instructed
the crowd to stand back, which was probably the biggest
challenge. "It was total chaos," he says...Complete
Article
WAFF.com Heart attacks can happen at any
time and very often they're fatal before the patient
gets help. That's why the City of Madison, AL has
defibrillators stationed across the city. They're
concerned people might not know the life-saving machines
are there.
The machine says, "Check responsiveness, call
for help." If ever someone has a heart attack
in a Madison building, a voice will be there to help,
if you know it's there.
David Glassman of the Madison Fire Department says,
"We want people to know how to use them, it would
be very sad if it was sitting there, someone went
into shock and no one knew how to use it."
For two years now Madison has had defibrillators
in most public buildings. Fortunately there's never
been a need but officials are worried most people
don't know about them. All of these are put in prominent
places where they're easy to access. To use, pull
them out and you're ready to go...Complete
Article
By Jonathan Ment, Daily Freeman
GLENFORD
- An automated external defibrillator, new and barely
two weeks out of the box, helped save a heart attack
victim's life Monday at Breathe Fitness, a local health
club.
John Jordan of Woodstock, who was treated at Kingston
Hospital following the incident early Monday afternoon,
said he had collapsed while on a fitness machine.
Club owner Anthony Covello got Jordan's heart going
with the defibrillator, which applies electric shocks,
before emergency crews arrived.
"In nine years we've never even had to use (cardiopulmonary
resuscitation) here," Covello said. "I don't
think that would have helped him. I think without
(the defibrillator) it wouldn't have been a happy
ending."
Jordan, speaking by telephone from the hospital's
emergency room, said the fitness machine he was using
apparently displayed an incorrect heart rate, and
he may have been "overdoing it" as a result.
"I appreciate the fact that they had the (defibrillator)
there and that they saved my life," he said.
Jordan said the machine he had been using, with a
cross-country skiing motion, was showing a heart rate
of 55 to 65 beats per minute, "and it's been
reading off since they got those two machines...Complete
Article
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