Another Life Saved, Another AED Donated

Newtown, PA – January 6, 2014 –As a result of a recommendation by a responder who saved a man’s life using CPR and an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), the Flamingo Cocktail Bar in Redlands, as well as other nearby businesses, will have access to a HeartSine AED.  The donation is part of HeartSine’s Forward Hearts program that enables a saved person or his/her responder to donate an AED to the organization of their choice.

The AED being donated by Anytime Fitness’s Noel Basilides to bar owner Michael Plunkett.

Noel Basilides, an assistant manager at Anytime Fitness in Riverside, was able to use his recent CPR training to save the life of a 75-year old man with a heart condition.  The man, who wishes only to be known as Thomas, had just finished his daily four-mile run on the treadmill when Noel noticed that he didn’t look well.  Before Basilides could react, Thomas suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and fell on to the moving treadmill before being tossed to the cement floor.

Says Basilides, “When Thomas collapsed on the treadmill, he hit his head and passed out.  I thought he was unconscious due to his head injury, but realized it was more serious when he didn’t wake up and then stopped breathing.”

Fortunately for the stricken man, Basilides had just attended a mandatory CPR class the previous week, and knew to call for help, perform CPR and use the AED.

“I have to admit that I was really scared to press that shock button, but was very glad I did.  After the shock, we followed the AED prompts to perform more chest compressions and thankfully Thomas started breathing.”

The paramedics arrived a full nine minutes after the call was placed.  Thomas’ doctors told Basilides that he survived due to the quick response to use the AED.  After a short stay in the hospital, Thomas has made a full recovery.

Adds Basilides, “After being able to save a life because the gym had the AED, I can’t talk enough about the importance of having these devices in all businesses.  Frankly I can’t understand why AEDs are not required by law.“

Due to his lifesaving efforts, Basilides was asked by Thomas to choose the recipient of the new HeartSine AED.  He chose the Flamingo Cocktail Bar, a popular local family-run bar in Redlands where he also works as a security guard.

Owner of the business, Michael Plunkett is pleased about the donation.  “After hearing from Noel about his experience with an AED, we are grateful that he selected our business to receive the donated AED.  We intend to provide our staff with CPR training, and will make other businesses near us aware of the AED should they ever need to use it.”

Noel Basilides with the AED that saved a man’s life.

HeartSine joins Think Safe, the distributor who sold the AED to Anytime Fitness, to make the Forward Hearts AED donation on behalf of Thomas and Noel.  Think Safe President, Paula Wickham adds, “This is the way things should work.  The Pay It Forward Program allows recognition of a life saving event and enables others to share their story and life saving victory over the disease that is the nation’s leading killer.  Another life may be saved in the future, outside the gym, due to Anytime Fitness doing the right thing for their club members. Our congratulations go out to HeartSine and Anytime Fitness for another valuable life saved!”

For more information on The Pay It Forward Program or how to get an AED grant or AED donation, fill out the form below. 

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Corrective Action vs. Recall – Is there a difference?

In late 2012, HeartSine announced a corrective action on their samaritan PAD unit (300/300P) for certain serial numbers.  The corrective action can be serviced from the field with a software update and a new battery Padpak unit.  The corrective action link to more information is: http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/ListofRecalls/ucm328604.htm

All customers with HeartSine samaritan units in the field should have received a corrective action form to fill out per Think Safe’s instructions. Contact us at 888-473-1777 or complete the form below for any questions on this form or your upgrade package.

HeartSine has taken the appropriate steps to correct any potential device malfunction and the manufacturer is contacting customers to ensure all field units are updated. inquiries can be directed to Think Safe’s customer support department at 888-473-1777 regarding the corrective action.

The software upgrade link online is: http://www.heartsine.com/en/library/updates/recall/  However, the software upgrade should not be done until filling out proper paperwork first.

FDA corrective actions or recalls in the AED world are not unprecedented.  Cardiac Science, Welch Allyn, Medtronic/Physio Control, Philips, Zoll, and Defibtech — all of the United States AED market ‘players’ have had FDA corrective actions or recalls. In an industry that has been around for only approximately 20 years, the product technology will continue to evolve and be subject to upgrades.

What is the official FDA definition of corrective action vs. recall?  Technically, they are the same thing.  Some recalls / corrective actions do involve REMOVAL of the device from the field.  The HeartSine corrective action does not.

HeartSine samaritan

For more FDA terminology see: http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/DeviceRegulationandGuidance/PostmarketRequirements/RecallsCorrectionsAndRemovals/

 

 

 

 

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AED Site Risk Assessment: Part2

AED Site Risk Assessment

Many times we get asked at Think Safe the question, “How much risk do I have for someone  having a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) here?”

In the previous blog post we spoke about determining the level of risk at your facility and if your facility was at higher risk for having a SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) event. We also provided a list of higher risk facilities.

If you want to now move on to assessment tools, here are some questions to answer:

1) Is it unlikely that the existing EMS system would be able to reliably achieve a “call- to-shock” interval of five minutes or less at this site?

2) Has an SCA incident occurred at this site in the past five years and have the demographics of the population served by this site remained relatively constant?

3) Do 10,000 or more persons regularly gather at this location?

4) Does this site have a large concentration of persons over 50 years old?

5) Is there a high probability of SCA at this site based upon this formula:

A. Take the number of individuals at your location and multiply this number by the % of people age 50 or over.
B. Multiply this number by the average number of hours spent at the location each day.
C. Multiply this number by 350 if the location is residential or 250 if the location is non-residential.
D. If your answer is 600,000 or higher, your location has a high probability of SCA.

If you answered YES to any of the above questions you are at higher risk of having an SCA event and you need to talk to our technical experts or a local rep.

Think Safe can provide a full AED Site Assessment Survey for your use and one of our local representatives would be happy to perform on onsite AED placement assessment.  Think Safe’s First Voice product line includes a full line of AEDs and AED accessories.  From low cost and rugged solutions our product catalog has what you need to put in place an effective and protective AED program.

For more information, contact one of our AED experts at 888-473-1777 or complete the following form and we will be happy to get in touch with you!

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