Philips HeartStart defibrillator

In case your fibrillator need defibrillating, Philips is poised to bring this automatic defibrillator to market once the FDA approves direct-to-consumer sales of the devices.  You've seen these on ER and other medical shows, or perhaps you've seen them in person: automatic defibrillators help bring abnormal heart rhythms back to normal and can save people about to go into cardiac arrest.  In fact, they work only for a cardiac arrest, when the heart's regular beat is too fast or too slow, causing it to stop pumping blood and leading to immediate loss of consciousness.  The Philips unit provides step-by-step voice prompts on how to apply on how to apply the paddles - the machine then automatically analyzes the heart rhythm and shocks it back to normal, if necessary.  There's a drinking game in here somewhere, we're sure. Did we just say that?

[010111 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

...before some kid brings one to school and defibrillates all his friends during recess.

defibrillates them to their graves! dun dun dunnnn!

[jay @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

Medtronic, the largest medical device manufacturer in the world, has a device very similar to the Heartstream. Except that independent studies have show the Medtronic CR+ to be the easiest for the untrained person to use. The medtronic AED requires a doctor's prescription to be sold to a person for "personal use". The heartstream only shocks at a maximum of 200 joules which is not enough for larger patients, while the CR+ shocks up to 360 joules. At my hospital we tested all AED's from major manufacturers and went with the Medtronic CR+, its definately the best out there.
http://www.medtronic-ers.com/products/LPCRPLUS.cfm

[Adam @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

You know that Johnny Knocksville can't wait to attach his nipples (or other body parts) to this machine.

[Server @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

All kidding aside, these devices are great, portable and a REAL life savor! Problem is, there isn't enough of them around. A study should be conducted to see where the most common place cardiac arrest occures (office/subways/airports) etc and have at least one nearby in case traffic holds up the paramedics beyond the golden hour.

[St. Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

Note that automatic defribrillators analyze the cardiac rhythm and will deliver a shock ONLY if it detects a rhythm (or arrhythm) that matches a profile it knows it can treat. Johnny isn't defibrillating his friends to their graves, because the thing won't do anything to them no matter how many times he pushes the button.

The sooner the FDA approves these for general sales, the better.

Still, "defibrillates them to their graves!" really does have a wonderful ring to it.

[jay @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

Actually there are lots of places that already have AED's. many of the major airlines have them as well as Disney, Major Airports (orlando and Atlanta definately have them) and All NY state schools are going to be required to have them. Over the next few years, these things are going to be very commonplace with most schools having one in the Admin offices.

[James Cook @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

There was a medical journal article a year or so ago (I believe in the New England Journal of Medicine) that gave the statistics on rescuscitation in a major airport. (Denver?) The save rate was quite high -- much higher than would be expected by calling paramedics and doing CPR until they arrive.

The best part of the article, though, was the elaborate description of the cases that weren't saved. Like the guy who fell over 70 feet onto concrete. Somehow I'm not surprised that defibrillation didn't help him.

James Cook MD

[austinkennethlee @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

i believe this product was designed by IDEO--the same group that did the industrial design of the palm v. this was a project over 3 years ago (my guess is the delay is with the FDA), to make an AED so simple a child could use, so i'm not real sure how the cr+ is the "easiest."

i can look at this philips thing and understand it. 3 steps, brightly-colored buttons, semiotics even the elderly can understand. maybe even canadians. the cr+ is a black box, with no indication that it even does anything. sorry mate, just a bit skeptical.

[Anthony Martin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

Does it come with a shaving kit for the super harry people out there?

[jay @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

Thats because you have not seen one in person, the yellow button on the bottom is clearly marked "on", once hit, the unit opens up and starts talking you through the process.

[Dean Ausfresser @ Dec 19th 2005 2:11AM]

The Philips HeartStart defibrillator is a gadget that saves lives. I bet that they soon will be used in all the airlines, many businesses and in every school across America.

In a year from now families of people that had heart attacks at work might sue their loved ones bosses if the company didn't have a Philips HeartStart defibrillator available.

[Harvard Reynolds @ Dec 31st 2005 12:22PM]

As one who lost is father to a 1999 sudden cardiac arrest, I formed Lifeguard Medical Solutions to provide quality and affordable defibrillators to those in need (churches/schools/organizations/personal use). Please feel free to call me on our toll-free number (866-932-2331) Monday-Friday from 9:00am-5:00pm (CST) to discuss how we may assist you. Sincerely, Harvard Reynolds, Founder, Lifeguard Medical Solutions