We often get calls and emails telling us about lives saved by a Powerheart automated external defibrillator. But it’s rare that we hear about a Powerheart AED that saves two lives at once.
A baby girl born in Arizona in May 2009 had been rescued on Nov. 11, 2008, after her 24-year-old mother in her first trimester went into sudden cardiac arrest while at work in a high school cafeteria in Arizona.
The mother was a brand-new employee of the Gilbert Public School District. She had just arrived for her first day at work, and was standing at a kitchen counter, when she suddenly collapsed.
Co-workers called 911 and summoned administrators and the school nurse, who had just arrived for the day. The nurse started CPR and called for the school’s Powerheart G3 AED. When it arrived, the school security officer took over CPR while the nurse attached the AED pads. The AED administered two shocks and the victim had regained a pulse and was breathing when paramedics arrived.
Family members, contacted by phone, informed the paramedics that the woman, who had no history of cardiac problems, was pregnant. She regained consciousness at the hospital, and later received an implantable defibrillator. Lori Miller, director of Health Services for the school district, provided us with the story and the very happy ending.
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- Sad stories, avoidable deaths? - March 23rd, 2011
- Texas school's AED saves 6-year-old's life - March 22nd, 2011
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:01 am
[...] Cardiac Science’s anonymized write-up of woman saved in her first trimester [...]