Only cell phones and laptops are more commonplace these days than defibrillators. Or so it seems. These compact, stop-cardiac-arrest machines are the darlings of health care prevention: they are to a heart's safekeeping what fire extinguishers or sprinkling systems are to hotels.
"Believe it or not, Las Vegas casinos are leading the defibrillator boom with one every three-minutes walking distance of every gaming table," said Al Brotons, Emergency Medical Services battalion chief in the Florida Keys. "Carrying around all that pocket change must be hard on your heart."
Brotons says Monroe County's emergency medical technicians have been using defibrillators (AEDs) in ambulances for some years now, but the need for higher distribution among non-medical professionals who are on the front line of emergency services is critical.
"Science has proven that if a person goes into cardiac arrest, he or she needs to be defibrillated within five minutes," said Brotons, who also teaches EMS to medical students at the University of Miami. "Good though our emergency technicians are, they can't always arrive on the scene that quickly."
"The national statistic for paramedic response time is excellent— five to six minutes— but in a lawsuit-happy-society, this just may not be good enough," said Betty Chambers. She is the local representative for Medtronic, the company that pioneered defibrillation technology 40 years ago.
"Brain and heart damage occur immediately after cardiac arrest," she said. "CPR helps get oxygen to the brain, but defibrillation stops the heart from fluttering— converts it back to its normal function.
"When your heart is fluttering, it isn't pumping blood, and every minute lost following cardiac arrest increases the possibility of death by 10 percent."
Because your chances to live without defibrillation are only 50/50, lightweight units that are both safe and simple to use will be in every airport (a huge percentage of cardiac arrests occurr in airports) and on every commercial airplane. They are mandated in all federal buildings. Florida state agencies are requiring them by 2003, some of Monroe County Sheriff's vehicles carry them, and most of the Keys fire engines have one on board.
"You can even find these units on some big golf courses," said Wally Romero, who works in fire prevention for the Florida Keys.
Whether it's for big spenders at the craps tables or for big hole-in-one dealmakers, lifesaving is the purpose behind the drive to get an AED in every retirement condo compound.
Of course, liability is the catalyst.
"You only rarely hear about heart attacks in a tourist town like Key West, but they happen more often than you might guess," said Chambers. "Holiday Inn Beach Resort has just committed to purchasing our Lifepack 500 AED."
Last year, tourists staying at the Hyatt, Pier House, the Hilton experienced cardiac arrests. And Chambers says a family sued Bush Gardens last year for not having an AED on premises that could have saved the life of one of their family members. The popular Florida theme park paid the family half a million dollars.
By comparison, the portable defibrillators that Monroe County purchases from Medtronic costs just under $4,000 each.
"Defibrillators can be used effectively by lay people, and anyway, the state of Florida's Good Samaritan law protects anyone who would choose to operate one," said Brotons. "The next push is getting these units in resorts and hotels throughout the Keys. KOA already has one, and we want to get them in all the state parks."
Chambers says that an AED cannot hurt a cardiac arrest victim, it can only help by analyzing the heart rate and stabilizing most fluttering that may occur: "We have to be just as conscious of our tourists' safety as we are of their good times. Many of them are middle-aged, and when they're here, they party, party, party. And they over- eat, and they over-exert themselves.
"A visitor who leaves alive, comes back," she said.
Info: 292-4037 or visit StopHeartAttack.com. Email: Betty1917@aol.