Heartsafe: Our weekly update on news in the world of heart safety and noninvasive cardiology

Utah AED mandate: South Jordan ordinance requires AEDs community-wide

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that a recently implemented public access defibrillation (PAD) ordinance in South Jordan, Utah, mandates automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in a wide range of buildings, public facilities, and private businesses. The city in Salt Lake County is one of Utah’s fastest growing metropolitan areas.

Becky Adams, Utah AED expert for Cardiac Science, says the new AED laws, effective May 12, 2009, cover schools and government buildings that have an “occupant load” of more than 50 people, and public and private buildings with an occupant load of more than 150. AEDs will be required on all fire, police, and school resource vehicles, as well as at healthcare and dental offices, hotels and motels, assisted living and care centers, correctional facilities, golf courses, and fitness centers.

South Jordan’s Project Cardiac React includes in its goals raising the survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest victims to 30 percent more community wide.

Michigan AED law brings change: Rescue at YMCA

Three years ago, Michigan passed a law requiring automated external defibrillators in fitness centers. The legislation was inspired in part by a sudden cardiac arrest death at a South Oakland YMCA that lacked an AED.

Last week, a 70-year-old man working out at that same YMCA suffered cardiac arrest. Now there’s an AED on hand, and the Detroit Free Press has the story of how the man was revived by YMCA staff who administered CPR and used the defibrillator to deliver a life-saving shock.

Texas system tests Obama Administration approach to electronic health records

The New York Times reports that a pediatric healthcare system in Fort Worth, Texas, is pioneering an approach to electronic health records (EMR) similar to what the Obama Administration is likely to require of healthcare providers.

The administration is expected to require that physicians and clinics maintain digital information on patient health, and later use this to document healthcare outcomes. This will require that practices make substantial investments in the technology to capture, track, and evaluate health data.

Cook Children’s Health Care System has announced that it will create and maintain Web-based electronic health records for patients at 60 offices and clinics throughout Texas. The pilot program could serve as a model for other cities, a Cook Children’s spokesman told the Times.

Illinois hospital saves churchgoer’s life, then donates AED

St. Francis of Assisi Parish receives Powerheart AED G3 Plus

Adventists Bolingbrook Hospital in Bolingbrook, Illinois, brought an automated external defibrillator (AED) to the St. Francis of Assisi Church twice.

The first time, it was the hospital ambulance team, who used their church AED to save the life of a parishioner who had gone in to cardiac arrest. The second time, it was the hospital itself, which donated a user-friendly Cardiac Science Powerheart AED G3 Plus to the church.

“AEDs can mean the difference between life and death for patients in cardiac arrest,” said Dr. Dominick Stella, director of Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital’s cardiac catheterization/vascular laboratory, told the Bolingbrook Sun. “No public place should be without one nearby.”

Arts facility rounds out its program with an AED

Memorial Hall in Melrose, Massachusetts, had band concerts, ballet rehearsals, jazz festivals, and even martial arts exhibitions. About the only thing the recently restored hall didn’t have was an automated external defibrillator.

That changed recently when Hallmark Health, a healthcare provider serving the region, announced it would donate a Cardiac Science Powerheart AED G3 Plus to the arts facility. Memorial Hall Operations Manager Kathy Pigott-Brodeur said she had been working on getting an AED for the hall. Cardiac Science is installing the defibrillator and providing AED training for Pigott-Brodeur’s staff.

Related AED Products

• Powerheart AED G3 Plus
• Powerheart AED G3 Fully Automatic and Semi-automatic
• Powerheart AED G3 Pro
• Powerheart AED G3 Trainer
• AED Program Management

Last 5 posts

• Cardiac Science AEDs in Spain [VIDEO] - April 4th, 2011
• Cardiac Science wins first major public access defibrillation program in Europe - March 30th, 2011
• Georgia Park saves 5 lives with AEDs - March 24th, 2011
• Sad stories, avoidable deaths? - March 23rd, 2011
• Texas school's AED saves 6-year-old's life - March 22nd, 2011