A few years ago I took a CPR course, and fortunately, I have never had to use it. (Although, I did come upon an unconscious woman about two weeks after taking the course - she was a diabetic and had passed out. She recovered fully.)
But, I was disturbed to learn how few heart attack victims were actually helped by CPR. However, the cardiac defibrillator has been reported to have remarkable results.
Orlando, Florida - People in cardiac arrest are twice as likely to survive in places where defibrillators are publicly available and volunteers have been trained to use them, according to a study reported at a meeting of the American Heart Association here.
That's nice if you have the big one where a defibrillator is available - not likely since 70% of heart attacks occur at home. So now, there's a defibrillator for the home made by Philips Medical Systems. It's a bit pricy at $2,300, and it's available only with a doctor's prescription. (That's to keep it out of the hands of terrorists, right? )
Update 11/13/03: Gruntdoc's Blog has an excellent commentary about this device and the situations in which it may or may not be of use.
I have commented on my blog:
http://www.gruntdoc.com/archives/000393.html
As for the prescription, it's for 2 reasons: First, as an FDA medical device, it can only be used with a doctors' order/prescription. Second, that way there's still a doc to sue when the patient dies.
Posted by: GruntDoc | November 12, 2003 at 04:45 PM
Good call Grunt Doc about the holding Doctors liable. It's like our society is pent on halving something to blame and it seems even more so in the medical field.
Tommy G
"Don't drink and drive, you will get a dui..."
Posted by: dui victim | December 30, 2003 at 09:24 AM