[slight hijack]
Interestingly enough, the FDA just approved a home defibrillator. It’s available by prescription only, so it certainly wouldn’t be expected for everyone to own one. Just thought you might be interested.
St. Urho
EMT-B
[/hijack]
It lists at $ 2,300.00 usd. I am not sure I would own one just for the home. Had I the money, I might invest in a refurb to keep in the car. I can get from the living room to the car in under 10 seconds ( small home… ).
It is true that most arrests occur in the home, just as it is true that most arrests occur between 4am and 9am.
It is probably a good idea in this thread to point out the fact that there are only TWO shockable rhythms. People can go into cardiac arrest for myriad reasons, but there are only two cardiac rhythms that respond to a defibrillator.
The first is Ventricula Fibrillation. Up to 50% of all cardiac cases wil be in VF if EMS personnel arrive in the first 8 minutes. In this case, the heart is not pumping on a regular rhythm, but is spasming arrhythmically. A defibrillator can stop the heart momentarily, and then if the heart is capable of starting again with a well produced electrical pulse, it will do so.
The second is Ventricula Tachycardia. * This is seen in less than 10% of out-of-hospital cardiac cases. *In this case, the rhythm is organized but out of control in terms of its speed.
(Stats quoted in italics are from “Emergency Care, 9th ed”. Limmer, O’Keefe, Grant, et al. 2001, Prentice Hall ).
My point in mentioning these facts is that even if you DO have access to a Public Access Defibrillator, and use it properly and in a very timely manner, there are odds that the person will remain in cardiac arrest, and die. I bet the stadium gets sued every time someone dies of a heart attack. Once the person is dead, it may be difficult if not impossible through autopsy to determine what KIND of cardiac event occurred, and whether or not a defibrillator would have made the slightest bit of difference.
I’m personally a huge supporter of the devices, I wish I owned one. But it is not a guarantee of survival. Sometimes, people die. It is in the nature of this work to be able to accept that fact, even though in the midst of the event, nothing is spared to stop the process from taking them.