Newsletter Articles
April 07, 2011
Ian McGregor, Ph.D.
McGregor & Associates
Background: Sudden Cardiac Arrest and AED’s
- Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is one of the leading causes of death in North America. It strikes more that 200,000 Americans each year, nearly one death every two minutes.
- SCA is caused by ventricular fibrillation, a condition in which the heart’s electrical impulses suddenly become chaotic, causing the heart to cease pumping blood effectively. Many victims of SCA have no prior symptoms. SCA can strike anyone at any time. Victims of SCA will quickly loose consciousness, often without warning, and unless there is quick intervention, death will occur within a few minutes.
- SCA is treatable using an AED (Automated External Defibrillator).
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April 07, 2011
Katharine M. Nohr, Esq.
Miyagi Nohr & Myhre, Honolulu
Question: If a guy keels over, apparently from a heart attack, and I use the athletic facilities’ AED in an attempt to save the guy’s life, and he dies anyway, can his estate sue me?
Answer: Anyone can sue.
The frustrating thing is that this is always the answer when addressing the question of whether someone can sue in the United States. The important question is whether you will likely be held liable for your actions or omissions. Even more frustrating is sorting out the state of the law regarding AED. The good news is that you are probably primarily concerned about the state in which your facility is located and so, with some diligent research, you can find out what your state’s law is as of this date. Remember, state laws are always in flux as your state legislature meets each year and so you will have to check whether any new AED bills have been passed, and if so, when they take effect. The National Center for Early Defibrillation has a handy AED Legislative Table that was last updated in the Spring of 2005, which can be reviewed by looking at their website at www.early-defib.org.
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April 07, 2011
Wallace Eddy and Carrie Tupper
Campus Recreation Services
University of Maryland (College Park)
Experience becomes learning when it is reflected upon, considered in light of prior learning, and actively applied to future experiences (Kolb, 1984). At the University of Maryland we have had several experiences involving cardiac arrest. What has been disheartening to staff who are responsible for teaching CPR/AED skills to our professional and student staff is that none of the victims were able to be revived. A careful process of incident review was conducted after each incident, including discussion of CPR/AED protocol followed and immediate documentation of activity.
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April 07, 2011
James Mellein and Bill Callender
Rec Sports, Oregon State University
The Decision
This story is not about statistics, surveys, research or the latest protocol on lifesaving techniques. This is about how one decision can touch many lives.
A well known patron of many years (we’ll call him Pete), exercised regularly in our facility. Many staff knew him by name and looked forward to seeing him each day. On March 14, 2006 at approximately 2:00pm, Pete suddenly collapsed while exercising on a cardiovascular machine. The ventricular fibrillation during Pete’s cardiac arrest laid him unconscious and unresponsive.
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April 07, 2011
Shelley Timms, B.A., LL.B., LL.M.
Timshel Services Inc.
Alcohol Risk Management
Timshel@timshelservices.com
As the holiday season draws closer, we tend to think about parties – but while the focus of a party is to have fun, there is some planning required to insure that they are fun.
Too often in the search for the best party plan, we forget that we need to understand the role of alcohol in the party and how it can make or break it. Taking the time to think about alcohol service will better insure that our guests have a good time AND get home safely.
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April 07, 2011
Amy Lanham
Assistant Director for Sport Clubs & Youth Activities
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Transportation Services department implemented the CarChip program in the Fall of 2005. The CarChip is a small device that can be attached to any vehicle, and can monitor functions like vehicle speed and braking activity (as well as other mechanical functions). The fleet dispatcher assigns a data recorder (CarChip) to a vehicle, attaches the device and then upon the vehicle’s return, pulls the recorder and downloads a variety of details regarding the vehicle while it has been out in the field.
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