| Imagine yourself walking hurriedly along the crowded | | | | shout "clear!." Of course those things cannot be found |
| airport, trying to catch your flight to New Jersey. | | | | outside the hospital or the ambulance and you'd be |
| Suddenly, a man in front of you faints and falls heavily | | | | intimidated to touch it, let alone use it.This is where |
| on the floor. He just had a cardiac arrest. As people all | | | | portable defibrillators come in use. Immediate aid for |
| around start to rush calling for the ambulance, you and | | | | cardiac arrest victims is now within reach because of |
| other people try to perform CPR to no avail. Precious | | | | its easy-to-carry packaging and its more automated |
| minutes pass by quickly, and you soon realize that if | | | | technology. There is no need for complex buttons to |
| the paramedics doesn't get to the man on time, he's | | | | press, and it has instructions that are easy to follow, |
| dead.*Cardiac arrest* is one of the leading causes of | | | | making just about anyone capable of using it to help |
| death in America today. It occurs swiftly and silently, | | | | save lives.Portable defibrillators should be placed in |
| leaving behind a high mortality rate where only 5% | | | | public areas like malls, airports, theme parks, hotels, |
| survive. And despite the best trained emergency | | | | offices, and schools. It should also be strategically |
| responders like firemen and paramedics rushing as | | | | located along fire extinguishers or public pay phones |
| fast as they can, the unfortunate reality is that most of | | | | for easy access. Because four out of five cardiac |
| its victims die before reaching the hospital or while they | | | | arrest occurs at homes, it is also advisable to keep a |
| wait for the ambulance. That is often the case in cities | | | | portable defibrillator handy to be used in emergency |
| that have traffic jams like New York.When someone | | | | cases. Explaining to your kids when and how to use it |
| has a cardiac arrest, the disorganization of the heart's | | | | can spell the difference between the life and death of |
| pumping rhythm causes it to be unable to contract | | | | one of your family members.In 2003, it was found that |
| properly and makes an abrupt interruption of blood | | | | the use of these portable defibrillators by volunteers in |
| circulation. This results to oxygen deprivation to the | | | | public areas gave a significant increase to the rate of |
| brain, unconsciousness, and inability to breathe. Within 3 | | | | cardiac arrest victims surviving compared to those |
| to 4 minutes, the victim's brain is likely to be damaged. | | | | who only received CPR. The said study was funded |
| For this reason, it is very important that emergency | | | | primarily by the National Institutes of Health Heart, Lung, |
| medical treatment is given immediately in order to | | | | and Blood Institute with the American Heart |
| resolve the condition. The most common first-aid | | | | Association. In Milwaukee, where about 1,000 people |
| treatment for cardiac arrest is the cardiopulmonary | | | | joined a training program for the proper use of the |
| resuscitation or CPR, and defibrillation.Defibrillation helps | | | | portable defibrillator, it was reported that the state |
| revive the heart by sending rapid jolts of energy to | | | | already had a cardiac arrest survival rate of 9%.Soon, |
| shock the heart back into its rhythm. A cardiac arrest | | | | portable defibrillators will be a common sight in public |
| victim's chances of survival goes up by 10% with after | | | | areas. People will be more familiar on its importance, |
| every minute of its use. We are familiar with how they | | | | and almost everyone will know how to use it properly. |
| are used as we see them frequently in hospitals, | | | | So the next time you find yourself in the mall or in the |
| ambulances, and on television shows like Rescue 911 | | | | airport, keep a vigilant eye on all emergency areas for |
| and hospital dramas like Grey's Anatomy and ER. But | | | | that small glass case that contains a portable |
| we know that it's very heavy, and we need to be | | | | defibrillator. Knowing where one can be found is very |
| sufficiently trained to use it, like the doctors who mutter | | | | important in case an emergency occurs. Who knows, |
| barely coherent instructions on its voltage and then | | | | the next life that could be saved might just be yours. |