Handy First Aid AED From Philips

WORLD HEART DAY 2013  

In an initiative to spread awareness on managing Sudden Cardiac Arrests (SCA) and thereby saving lives, a detailed demonstration of the Automated External Defibrillator was organized at the Philips Innovation Campus.The initiative was part of “World Heart Day” that is being celebrated on September 29.

A portable device, AEDs can be used to provide defibrillation to save the life of a person who has suffered from a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. As AEDs come with audio and visual instructions, they can be used by anyone to save a life with the push of a button.The AED analyses the heart rhythm of an individual and on detecting an abnormal rhythm, charges and instructs the user to push the shock button. They are completely safe and there is no risk of injury from an electrical shock.

To demonstrate the usage of  AEDs Philips invited Dr. Mabel Vasanaik, Consultant and Head – Adult Emergency Department, Manipal Hospitals to its campus in Manyata Tech Park. Dr Vasanaik addressed the attendees on Sudden Cardiac Arrests and the role of an AED in managing them before actually demonstrating the usage of an AED. Following the demonstration, Dr Vasanaik addressed queries from the attendees on AEDs, why they are critical and how they should be used to save lives.

“There have been many  instances of deaths due to Sudden Cardiac Arrests (SCA) in Bangalore city and across the nation in the past year alone.Our ambition is to educate civilians on a simple procedure that would help you save another person’s life. Using an AED within the first three to five minutes of a collapse can literally be the difference between life and death for someone experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. With this initiative we would like to encourage government bodies and institutions to have the AED machines placed just like fire safety devices or first-aid kits” said Mr. Srikanth Muthya, Director, Patient Care & Clinical Informatics, Philips Healthcare, India.

Recent cases of deaths by SCA in Bangalore city,  such as that of 24 year old actor Hemanth or the 27 year old footballer Vankatesh  is a clear  indication that the youth is increasingly susceptible to this medical condition.  Various factors such as  family history of coronary artery disease, smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, a sedentary lifestyle etc are the primary causes for SCA.

On the occasion of “World Heart Day” on September 29, 2013, it is time to introspect on taking it upon ourselves to building awareness  of being part of a greater community that helps in saving lives.

The Automated External defibrillator (AED) by PIC is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm.

With simple audio and visual commands, AEDs are designed to be simple to use for the layman, and the use of AEDs is taught in many first aid, first responder, and basic life support (BLS) level cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) classes.