November 28, 2007­–AKRON–A program to place automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in Ohio schools, administered by Akron General Medical Center and funded by the state of Ohio, is now complete. The five million dollars allocated to the program in two phases over the past several years paid for the placement of 4,544 of the life-saving electronic devices in schools throughout Ohio.

The program should be expanded across the country, said U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton. “This proven, lifesaving step should be taken in every single state,” Sutton, a Democrat who represents northeast Ohio's 13th District, said in a statement. “I'm proud that northeast Ohio is leading the way.”

November 27, 2007–ASPEN–Bobby Cluck and Terri Dangler’s wedding reception in Buttermilk, Colorado, was winding down when the grandfather of the bride, Paul Copsey, collapsed in sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) on the dance floor.

As Copsey’s daughters knelt at his side, two wedding guests performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and a third retrieved an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Amy Covington and her husband, Rob, immediately started two-person CPR. She is a physician’s assistant at Aspen Medical Care and Rob has experience with CPR from the military.

Another wedding guest, Mike Lyons, a paramedic with the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department, carried an AED in his truck and ran to retrieve it. Lyons used the AED to restore a normal heartbeat, and by the time the ambulance arrived, Copsey had regained consciousness.

November 26, 2007­­–BOSTON–Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) pose no special risks for heart patients who drive, researchers report in the December 4th issue of Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“What this confirms is what we already thought—that overall there is not a huge risk in this population,” said study lead author Dr. Christine M. Albert, director for the Center for Arrhythmia Prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

About 50,000 defibrillators are implanted annually in the United States. Among the famous recipients is Vice President Dick Cheney, who experienced an irregular heartbeat Monday and was being examined by his doctors.

There have been worries that the shock delivered by the device to correct an abnormal heartbeat might be dangerous for drivers, Albert said.

Airline Employee, Passenger Save Holiday Traveler at Sky Harbor

November 26, 2007–Phoenix, AZ–A 62-year-old man from Ohio was saved by a fellow passenger and an airline employee using cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an automated External Defibrillator (AED) while on board a plane departing Sky Harbor over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

The man was on board a Mesa Airlines flight, operating as US Airways Express, last Wednesday evening (Nov. 21). The man collapsed in sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) as the plane was pulling out from the gate, preparing for takeoff. Another passenger, an off-duty paramedic, checked the man for a pulse and began CPR when he did not detect a heartbeat. The pilot pulled the plane back to the gate. A quick-thinking Mesa Airlines employee retrieved an AED, activated it, then continued CPR.

November 17, 2007–WASHINGTON, CD–The House of Representatives has failed to override President George W. Bush's Veto of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, which would have provided $ 2.5 million to fund the Rural and Community Access to Emergency Devices Program. The appropriations would have included an allocation of $200,000 to fund an information clearinghouse designed to increase public access to defibrillation in schools, as requested in the Automated Defibrillators in Adam’s Memory (ADAM) Act.

November 11, 2007­–LONDON–A Member of Parliament (MP) who almost died on a plane is demanding new laws to force airlines to carry life-saving equipment. Liberal Democrat Paul Keetch was technically dead for seven minutes after having suffering cardiac arrest on a flight from London to a NATO meeting in the States.

The cabin crew on the Virgin Atlantic flight saved his life by using a £1,000 defibrillator to restart his heart. Keetch, 46, is now spearheading moves to force all airlines to carry the machines and train staff to use them.

“When I collapsed with chest pains a Brazilian medic on the plane tried heart massage. But it was the cabin crew’s use of a defibrillator that saved my life. I was technically dead for seven minutes,” he said. “These machines (automated external defibrillators or AEDs) should be installed on all aircraft and staff given the training to use them.”