Athletic club saves man's life

For the second time in a little over a year a quick-thinking worker at a Superior Athletic Club saved a heart attack victim's life using an emergency defibrillator.

A man in his 50s collapsed early Friday on a racquetball court at the fitness center on Cardley Avenue in Medford.

Michelle Gordon was working the front desk when a man approached her seeking help. She gave the man a trauma bag containing the automated external defibrillator (AED) and called 9-1-1, said club manager Dee Gillen.

The man soon returned, saying the victim had stopped breathing. Gordon then sprung into action, Gillen said.

"She was helped by two club members," Gillen said. "Michelle applied the pads and they were able to deliver the shock that saved him."

The man's identity was not available at press time. Fortunately for him, the two members who helped him happened to be a firefighter and a nurse.

In November 2005, a similar incident occurred at the Superior Athletic Club on Barnett Road. A woman collapsed during a racquetball game and was saved by a club employee who knew how to use an AED.

"The AEDs cost only around $2,000, but are so worth it," Gillen said.

Superior Athletic Club has AEDs in place in all three of its locations. Employees are trained how to use them during a heart saver course they attend.

Gordon and the two club members will receive American Heart Association awards.

Gillen said Oregon has no law mandating that fitness clubs are equipped with AEDs. She hopes the Legislature does something about that soon.

"More and more states are requiring them," Gillen said. "I'd like to see Oregon move that way."

CPR Training and the effectiveness of using an AED

An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is a self-contained defibrillator device designed for portability and ease of use. AEDs are available for $1000 for a basic model to several thousand dollars for a more fully-featured or durable model. There is limited evidence to suggest that biphasic defibrillation is superior to monophasic defibrillators, although the small capacitor size required for the defibrillator can create significant cost and size savings-- essential for the proliferation of Automated External Defibrillators.

Automated External Defibrillators are commonly found in large gathering places, such as airports, casinos, sports stadiums, and college campuses. Solid-gel electrodes are more convenient, because there is no need to clean the patient's skin after removing the electrodes. The apex electrode is applied to the left side of the patient, just below and to the left of the pectoral muscle.

While ventricular fibrillation is still the major primary rhythm in cardiac arrest, nowadays available AEDs can be used especially by the trained and even untrained laymen. Untrained laypersons are able to use AEDs quickly and safely. Claude Beck successfully revived a patient in an operating room using an open-chest electric defibrillation device, which had been designed by him and then built by his friend James Rand.

Studies and Research on AED's:
One study offered students a new teaching strategy called "learning by teaching", where medical students trained SCD survivors at their homes in BLS and the use of an AED. In one study three physicians skilled in providing and teaching advanced life support (certified instructors of the European Resuscitation Council) were present and recorded data while each student operated the AED. Out of 127 trainees, 87 (69%) were rated by their trainers as that they can deal with failures/disturbances of the AED by themselves.

Facts to Consider:
Since the first clinical use of AEDs in the early 1980s, developments in technology have led to initiatives by health and governmental organizations to develop PAD programs. Many monitor defibrilators provide three, five or 12-lead EKG monitoring to compensate for this downfall of the paddles. For many years, the American Heart Association has postulated inclusion of AED use in basic life support training.

AED Usage and Training:
Many students consider that as AEDs are more or less self-explaining, learning by doing would be the best way to teach CPR and BLS. When a patient has been admitted due to heart concerns, and the physician or nurse has determined that he or she is at risk of arrhythmia, they may apply adhesive electrodes to the patient in anticipation of any concerns that may arise. There is evidence that use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) by laypersons improves rates of survival from cardiac arrest, but there is no consensus on the optimal content and duration of training for this purpose.

Automated Edternal Defibrillators are designed to provide immediate defibrillation to high-risk patients. The implementation of PAD programmes in the future will depend mainly on the willingness of the public to participate in AED or cardiopulmonary resuscitation courses.