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]

Ventricular fibrillation is a condition in which the electrical currents in the heart are disrupted. These electrical currents help control the heart's contractions. When there is a disruption, the ventricles start quivering or shaking in a non-coordinated pattern. No blood is able to be pumped through the heart to the rest of the body.     Some of the causes of ventricular fibrillation include: Electrical shock Coronary artery disease Shock resulting in low blood pressure H... [More]

The advantage of the alarm is that everyone within hearing distance knows someone has recognized an emergency and can respond to help. Some alarmed cabinets are keyed. You open the cabinet, the alarm sounds, you turn the key in the lock and the alarm turns off. Most cabinets also turn off by simply closing the door (most people don't realize this). Some alarmed cabinets have an internal button to push to turn off the alarm once the cabinet is open. The alarms work on 9v or other replaceable ba... [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]

Let’s face it; defibrillator is not an easy word to spell. As a matter of fact we see many different spellings in emails, publications and our server logs. Of course, spelling defibrillator did not come naturally to me either. As a matter of fact, I often run spell-check or just shorten the word to defib because it is very easy to make typos even if you know the spelling. But we’re in great company. Even the Chicago Times had a problem with the word.  Here are some common mis... [More]

Sound familiar? It does if you’ve been thinking about buying an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) for your workplace or your home, since undoubtedly someone has assured you how simple the device is to use. Studies have long proven that an AED is so simple to operate even sixth grade students have demonstrated the ability to operate them effectively. Indeed, over one-half of the rescuers who used the defibrillators in a Chicago airport were travelers who had never been trained to use... [More]

Some of the most inspirational as well as entertaining CPR/AED instructors are paramedics and firefighters. The stories of their real life experiences successfully keep their students awake during class, and when peppered with a few gory details they incite the predictable shudders and “Oh yuk” responses. As a training coordinator, I had the pleasure of monitoring and assisting these firemen for over seven years, during which time CPR/AED training evolved and changed considerably. F... [More]

It has been 8 years since Madison McCarthy, a five-year old kindergarten student with Cinderella-like curls, died from Sudden Cardiac Arrest at school during her lunch break. Madison’s school was not equipped with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). But in 2001, preschool and kindergarten classrooms were not considered the location where you would find a machine used to give an electrical shock to the heart. An AED can diagnose heart rhythms and differentiate between those that need... [More]