ALBANY, NY-- Health clubs have no obligation to use the defibrillators that they are required to have on hand to treat sudden cardiac arrest, New York's highest court ruled.
The Court of Appeals took up the case of Long Island man Gregory Miglino Sr. to resolve division over the issue at the appellate level.
Miglino had been playing racquetball early one morning in March 2007 at a Bally Total Fitness when he collapsed. A club employee, trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of a portable automated external defibrillator (AED), rushed to his side while others called 911 and broadcast an internal announcement summoning anyone with medical training to help.
The employee quickly evaluated Miglino and decided not to start CPR or use the AED because he was taught the procedures were "inappropriate in light of a breathing individual with detectable pulse," according to an affidavit in the case.
Two club members, a doctor and a medical student, soon offered assistance and began CPR. An ambulance crew then arrived and used an AED to try to shock Miglino's heart back into rhythm. He could not be revived and was pronounced dead on arrival at nearby Stony Brook Hospital.
His son, Gregory Miglino Jr. filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in early 2008, alleging the club and Bally Total Fitness Corp. failed to abide by state laws on CPR and AEDs.
Since 2005, New York has required health clubs, fitness studios, gyms, and martial arts and self-defense schools with 500 or more members to have an AED on the premises and someone trained to use the device and certified in CPR. An amendment in 2011 clarified application of the provisions to the staffed business hours of clubs.