Life-saving Defibrillator
Put To Use At Palm Isles
By Julie Waresh, Neighborhood Post
May 4th, 2005
When tennis player Ed Schwartz saw a friend slump
in his chair courtside last month, he knew just what
to do.
The 75-year-old resident of Palm Isles dropped his
racket and sprinted for the tennis shack, where he
retrieved a portable defibrillator.
The victim had no pulse and the machine, designed
to deliver life-saving electrical shocks to heart-attack
victims, had directions that told Schwartz how to
administer treatment.
After two or three shocks, applied with help from
fellow resident Jack Schwartz (no relation), the victim
was revived.
"At the time I was running for the defibrillator,
I was not scared," Ed Schwartz recalled. "I
simply knew I had to get it and get back as fast as
possible."
Paramedics arrived soon thereafter and praised the
pair for saving the life of the victim, whose family
asked that his name not be released. As of last week,
he remained at JFK Medical Center.
News of the incident traveled quickly throughout
Palm Isles, an active-adult community of 1,240 homes
on Boynton Beach Boulevard between Jog and Hagen Ranch
roads.
Sy Klamner, co-coordinator of the Palm Isles defibrillator
program, hopes the happy outcome will spur more residents
to take the defibrillator training course.
"I urge all our fellow Palm Islers to join the
program and get trained and be ready for any emergency,"
he said in the community's on-line newsletter. "We
need you."
While Palm Isles got its first defibrillator three
years ago and has trained some 130 residents in its
use, last month's emergency marked the first time
anyone has had to use it.
But the machine and its operators performed beautifully,
Klamner said. There is no better recruitment tool
than showing potential trainees how the machine saved
the life of a fellow resident.
"I'm really pushing it for that reason,"
Klamner said. "To let the whole town and county
know how important this is."
Palm Isles has two defibrillators — one in
the clubhouse, where residents serve on defibrillator
duty, and one in the tennis shack, which is available
in case of a courtside emergency.
Residents trained to use the machine identify themselves
by pinning a yellow flag to the fence when they are
on the tennis courts, Klamner said.
The machines cost about $2,000 each and were paid
for by the development's master association, Klamner
said. The association also pays for resident training
and refresher courses.
As for Ed Schwartz — who is trained on the
machine and performed calmly and efficiently during
the emergency — he's still recovering from the
experience.
"I've been emotional ever since it happened,"
he said. |
