The statement, dated April 1, says chest compressions alone can be used to save an adult who suddenly collapses. The recommendation applies only to bystanders in a non-hospital setting.
For its part, the American Red Cross says it has set an organizational goal of reaching 250,000 people nationwide during the official week--June 1-7--with the vital knowledge and skills to respond to a life-threatening situation with confidence.
The two deals announced this month will place AutoPulse® Non-invasive Cardiac Support Pumps in rescue vehicles in Berlin and a large Paris suburb.
The company's exclusive deals with CH2M Hill and Cummins Engine mean it will provide AEDs and services for hundreds of locations worldwide.
This year's National Safety Month will feature a weekly focus on the leading causes of preventable deaths--motor vehicle collisions, unintentional poisonings from overdoses, and falls--as well as the lifesaving benefits of CPR/AED training for people in the workplace, at home, and in their communities.
New guidelines give 2008 funding priority to school programs and organizations that develop programs to train a new generation of people to respond to SCA.
Keith White was dancing with his wife, Ingrid, at a dinner celebrating the 60th anniversary of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Cincinnati. He remembers feeling dizzy, then slipping from her arms, a victim of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Although White is a very active parishioner, he was unaware the church obtained an automated external defibrillator (AED) just 10 days before the dinner dance.
U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, will ntroduce legislation to expand access to AEDs in schools across the country.
The amended settlement expands a prior agreement obtained in July, which had provided for a recovery of $195 million to settle more than 5,600 claims. After additional injured patients stepped forward, the agreement was amended to provide up to $240 million in compensation.
A recent USA Today list of the 25 Top Medical Events of the past 25 years listed "The rise of the AED" at number 9: "Hundreds and perhaps thousands of cardiac arrest victims are saved each year by folks using an AED, which delivers a shock to a dying heart. The first models were sold for home use in 1986, but it was in the early 1990s when the device became so simplified with voice prompts that even children could use one to save a life." (Big Dose of Medical Change, July 16, 2007)
Used in statewide deployment programs, the units also are deployed in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, the company said.
ACCORDING to the American Heart Association, more than one in three American adults have one or more types of cardiovascular disease. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Framingham Heart Study has followed participants since 1948 and their offspring since 1971. The study estimates the overall lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and found more than half of men and nearly 40 percent of women in the United States will develop CVD during their lifetime.
Are some trainers/companies thinking the new guidelines have discredited on-scene defibrillation or made it less important?
THE typical response to sudden cardiac arrest is not the stuff of Hollywood movies or TV medical dramas. Rarely is the most-trained, clearest-thinking person on the scene first, taking charge and saving a life against long odds. Rarer still are bystanders who instantly become part of the solution instead of a distraction or impediment. Panic, confusion, fear, people getting in one another's way--now, that's often the real world.
SUDDEN cardiac arrest (SCA) remains a significant cause of death in America's workplaces. OSHA attributes 13 percent of all workplace fatalities to SCA, and health experts estimate that more than 400,000 individuals die of SCA in the United States each year.
Editor's note: Don't overlook the message you send to employees by deploying automated external defibrillators. They can be a powerful symbol of a company's commitment to its workforce and its culture, as Teradyne Inc.'s Loren Eaton, vice president of human resources, and Andy Porter, manager of corporate communications, pointed out in a Feb. 9, 2006, conversation with Occupational Health & Safety's editor. Excerpts from the conversation follow.
Editor's note: The "next stage" of AEDs promises to combine CPR and automated external defibrillation in a new, user-friendly way, says Jamie Froman, director of marketing for the commercial AED business of Philips Medical Systems (www.philips.com). Froman, who works in the company's Seattle, Wash., offices, discussed recent developments in AEDs and CPR on Nov. 22, 2005, with Occupational Health & Safety's editor. Excerpts from the conversation follow:
SUDDEN cardiac arrest (SCA) is an abrupt disruption of the heart's function that causes lack of blood flow to vital organs. This lack of blood flow results in loss of blood pressure, pulse, and consciousness. Most commonly, SCA is caused by a type of arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) called ventricular fibrillation, or VF.
AUTOMATED external defibrillators are becoming increasingly common in workplaces and public facilities across the nation.