Early defibrillation addresses only part of the problem of sudden
cardiac death. Early defibrillation initiatives will succeed only when implemented as part
of the chain of survival concept. There’s basically a 5-6 minute window in which the
shock of an AED is likely to be effective in restoring the heart’s rhythm.
The links of the chain of survival include early
recognition of cardiac arrest, early activation of trained responders, early CPR, early
defibrillation when available, and early ALS (Advanced Life Support). Establishment of
early defibrillation within a strong chain of survival will ensure the highest possible
survival rate for out-of-hospital events.
In 1997, Dr. John Zimmerman,
M.D., (Chief of Hackensack University Medical Center
Electrophysiology Laboratory, Cardiology Division, Department of Internal Medicine),
initiated a program, which raised money through grants, donations, and fundraisers, to
supply police departments in Bergen County with automatic defibrillators. The Maywood
Police Department followed through with Dr. Zimmermann’s program and made the
commitment to trains our officers.
Maywood receives their donated
defibrillators. Listed from left to right: Ken Christensen, Coordinator
of HUMC ALS Unit, Sergeant David Pegg, Police Officer Terence Kenny, and Jim Howson.
In
1998, the Bergen County E.M.S. Training Center and Lieutenant Ed Nekel of the Paramus
Police Department, trained all of the Maywood officers in the use of the automatic
external defibrillators. Hackensack University Medical Center donated four PHYSIO
CONTROL LIFEPACK 500 units, which were immediately put into service. Since 1998 the
Automatic defibrillators have been successfully used three times!
A person suddenly loses consciousness and falls to the ground on
W. Pleasant Ave. Witnesses rush to him, only to find he has no pulse and he’s
not breathing. Someone calls 9-1-1. Another person begins Cardiopulmonary
Resuscitation (CPR). The police arrive with an external defibrillator - a medical
device no bigger than a laptop computer. The officer applies pads to the chest to deliver
a short electrical current - to shock the persons heart back into rhythm. It’s
ready within seconds, the shock is delivered, and the man’s heart begins pumping
again. Without quick access to a defibrillator, the person might have died.
In
Maywood, the above story is true. We are here to help the people and we are the first
responders to a medical emergency. Officers of the Maywood Police Department have
been trained in first aid, and are either First Responder certified or are Emergency
Medical Technicians. In addition to this training, all officers have been certified
in the use of the A.E.D. and are CPR certified.
The LIFEPAK 500 AED is a
small, lightweight, portable, easy-to-use and virtually
foolproof, error-free machine. The AED unit’s voice prompt tells the first
responder to immediately place the AED electrodes on the victim’s chest. The
prompts then instruct the operator to press the analyze button & wait until the device
assesses if the patient’s heart rhythm can be corrected with a shock. If a
"treatable" rhythm is present, it tells the operator to push the red flashing
button to deliver the appropriate shock. It then assesses the rhythm again. If
electrical order has not been restored, it tells the operator to deliver a second shock.
The shocks last milliseconds. The machine tells the operator when to check for a
pulse and if CPR should be continued.
In the United States, sudden cardiac arrest claims more than 350,000 lives each year. As the single leading cause of death in the U.S., heart attack and heart failure is a major public health problem. Sudden cardiac arrest in adults is frequently caused by ventricular fibrillation, an abnormal, chaotic heart rhythm that prevents the heart from pumping blood. The most effective treatment for ventricular fibrillation is defibrillation, delivering an electrical shock to the heart with a device called an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).*1
