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How a Hardware Designer Was Saved By His Own Creation
szczys writes Would you do a better job designing hardware if your life depended on it? Chris Nefcy is in that exact position. Years ago he developed an Automatic External Defibrilator for First Medic. The device allows non-doctors to restart a human heart in the field. When Chris had a heart attack his ticker was restarted with shocks from his own hardware. His story isn't just heartwarming, he also covers the path that led him into developing the AED and the bumpy road encountered getting the hardware to market.
does that mean nobody can accuse him of being unable to design something to save his own life?
For the 1000000000th time, defibrillators don't start your heart, they stop it. That's how they all work. Look it up.
Suppose this article inverts the story, but still...
It's a pervasive and beguiling myth that the people who design instruments of death end up being killed by them. There is almost no foundation in fact. Colonel Shrapnel wasn't blown up, M. Guillotin died with his head on, Colonel Gatling wasn't shot. If it hadn't been for the murder of cosh and blackjack maker Sir William Blunt-Instrument in an alleyway, the rumour would never have got started.
Trying to become famous by taking photos. Visit my homepage please.
The nice thing about AED is that you only need to learn two things about using it: 1. how/where to place the pads, 2. follow what it tells you and make sure everyone is clear of the person getting the shock.
There is zero training required to operate an AED.
If you can't figure out how to open the zip and push the big button marked ON, then I'm amazed you figured out that the person needed first aid at all.
Trained personnel? If they were capable of reading the instructions that were in the case, or listening to the directions spoken by the machine, that covers about 95% of what training is really required for a normal adult.
I am a certified First Aid/CPR/AED instructor for the American Red Cross. The level of training required to use an AED if you are calm, cool, and collected (and no cross-chest nipple piercings are involved) is less than is necessary to assemble a table from Ikea. That said, when you need to use one, calm, cool, and collected are frequently out the window, which is why training is recommended. Almost anything you can do wrong, the machine will let you know that something is wrong so you can correct it. Many kits even come with a razor to deal with the overly hirsute. Oh, and I was involved with building an internal pacemaker capable of phoning home to the doctor (though you had to hold the phone up to your chest, it couldn't reach out and grab it) back when they still required DSPs.
The AEDs automatically analyze heart rhythms (or lack thereof) and notify the operator to push a button if a shock is required. They will provide a shock for two different rhythms- V-fib (Ventricular Fibrillation) and V-Tach (Ventricular Tachychardia). They will not shock for asystole (no electrical heart signals detected at all, and must be avoided so you don't try using an AED to jump start your car or do some tiny welding) and PEA (pulseless electrical activity- the wiring is working, but the engine is dead).
Long story longer: Heart Attacks are NONE of these cases. AEDs WILL NOT PRODUCE A SHOCK for a heart attack, which is simply the blockage of blood to the heart, usually caused by a clot breaking loose. Heart attacks can result in cardiac arrest, which does result in one of the four cases above, but an AED will do nothing for a simple heart attack. TFA correctly describes that he had a cardiac arrest (sudden dropping to the ground), but incorrectly says he flat-lined (asystole, AED wouldn't have helped in that case) and that he had a heart attack (if he only had a heart attack, he could have walked off the court and hopefully gotten a quick ride to a hospital).
Any more info needed? I strongly encourage you and everyone to take a First Aid/CPR/AED class from whatever qualified source is available (Red Cross, Heart Association, etc). The chance that you will ever need to perform CPR is pretty low, but I have had to deal with a choking in a restaurant, a compound fracture at a swimming pool, a petite mal siezure on a subway, and other situations that are far more likely.
The nice thing about AED is that you only need to learn two things about using it: 1. how/where to place the pads, 2. follow what it tells you and make sure everyone is clear of the person getting the shock.
That's three things.
You should come in again.
In Italy it is now obligatory for sports clubs to have an AED and certified people who can use it. I took a day-long CPR/AED class just two weeks ago, together with other members of our club. The device is actually really easy to use - press a button, listen to the directions, place the pads and hope for the best. But when the machine can't produce a shock (for the reasons outlined by QQBoss above) one still needs to perform CPR, and that's what the biggest part of the course was about.
I second QQBoss and encourage everyone to take a First Aid/CPR/AED class. You can't do anything wrong - once a person is unconscious and is not breathing normally, it is just a question of time before they completely shut down. By acting immediately and administering First Aid until the cavalry arrives you can help raise their chances of survival and minimize possible collateral damage and recovery time. Should you crack a person's rib during CPR you were probably doing it wrong, but the fact that they are able to complain means that you have contributed to saving their life (and in many countries/jurisdictions you are protected by Good Samaritan law).
*Nobody* expects to have a heart attack and need to use a defibrillator!
No training involved. If you've ever seen an AED it's got the instructions printed right on it, with pictorials and everything. I note they're pretty much everywhere these days, even in office and public spaces.
Now the thing about AED's that interests me is who is going to put the pads on you and activate the machine? The whole bystander effect and all.