Last week we shipped a replacement AED battery and pads to one of our customers, an American Heart Office in Lexington, Kentucky. I received an email from them asking what they should do with the old battery once the new one arrived at their office. Since the AED battery is a non-rechargeable Lithium Sulfur Dioxide battery, you cannot simply throw it in your office trash can. Some AED manufacturers give explicit directions in their owner manuals for battery disposal. Medtr... [More]

         We know that an AED is to be used on a person who is unresponsive, not breathing, and does not have a pulse.  So what if that person is also pregnant?   Would you hesitate to use an AED on a pregnant woman?   You should not hesitate at all.  You should use an AED on a pregnant woman exactly the same as any other adult patient.    We know that if Mom dies – her baby dies; but what about the shock?  A ... [More]

  Last week while teaching an American Heart CPR/AED class, one of the students asked an interesting question concerning the use of a defibrillator on a Little Person, a person born with dwarfism.   While I presumed the guidelines would be the same as they are for a person of normal stature, I wanted an expert’s opinion.  Coincidently, my niece,  Miranda Uhl, is a Little Person (and a Paralympic Gold Medal Winner) so I wanted to make absolutely sure I found the ri... [More]

Philips recently announced that it is providing a replacement instruction card for owners of the Philips HeartStart Home and HS1 Automated External Defibrillators. The instruction card, Quick Reference Guide, is stored in a clear plastic pocket inside the Red AED carrying case. The guide provides basic operating instructions for using the AED. According to Philips, they received incident reports where the responder who used the AED during an emergency, mistakenly pressed the “On/Off”... [More]

Placing automatic external defibrillators in public places across the United States and Canada could save the lives of 474 people who otherwise would die of cardiac arrest each year, researchers report. The study included almost 14,000 people who suffered cardiac arrest in public places in seven U.S. cities and three Canadian ones between December 2005 and May 2007. Researchers found public defibrillator-linked benefits similar to those observed in earlier, smaller studies. "All had survival r... [More]

If you own a Cardiac Science defibrillator you probably need some help understanding just what is going on with the recent updates regarding recalls and urgent field correction requirements. At this time, there are two separate mandatory corrective actions necessary. The first action which involves approximately 300,000 Cardiac Science AEDs requires the software upgrade to be completed by the current owner of the AED. This software upgrade is referred to as a Voluntary Medical Device Correction ... [More]

To determine if your Cardiac Science AED is affected in the Urgent – Voluntary Medical Device Correction issued in November 2009, you will first go to the website www.cardiacscience.com/aed175. According to Cardiac Science, there are three steps to complete this mandatory update: (1) Download, (2) Install, and (3) Tell Cardiac Science the update is complete. Having attempted my upgrade today, I must advise you that the first step should be to find the AED serial communications cable that... [More]

Six months ago, Brenda Strunk, a school nurse from Western School Corporation in Russiaville, Indiana called me to discuss defibrillator program management in her school district. With at least 11 defibrillators to maintain, we reviewed the comprehensive maintenance program that was vitally necessary for the school districts overall medical emergency plan. Through our American Heart Training Center, I talk with many school nurses regarding their school AED programs. Yesterday, I spoke with Br... [More]

PHYSIO‐CONTROL RESUMES UNRESTRICTED GLOBAL SHIPMENTS OF ITS LIFEPAK® DEFIBRILLATORS  REDMOND, WASH. – Feb. 19, 2010 – Physio‐Control Inc., a wholly‐owned subsidiary of Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today it received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that having successfully met requirements for improvements to the quality system, the company may resume unrestricted worldwide shipments of its external defibrillators. In May 2008, Physio‐Contr... [More]

Working for an American Heart Training Center, we keep up with all the latest training gadgets. When my boss came into my office and told me there was a new App for the iPhone that gave feedback on the rate and depth of compressions, my fingers couldn’t move fast enough to take me to the App. Store to download it on my iPod. As soon the App was downloaded (it cost $5.99) I pulled a manikin out of the training room and followed the voice prompts of my iPod. Well, at least I tried to follo... [More]