Ski Resorts Should Have Heart Shockers

Ivanhoe Newswire
Monday, December 18, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Ski resorts are good places for automated external defibrillators, devices used to shock the heart back to a normal beat when someone is suffering from a heart attack.

According to a British researcher who recounted her own experience tending to a man who collapsed while skiing, AEDs could save countless lives, because downhill skiing puts people at higher risk for serious cardiac events -- especially people who are out of shape, overweight, have high blood pressure, or have a history of heart problems.

Sarah Davies, M.D., was skiing herself when she heard a call for help. She rushed to the scene, finding a man lying on the ground, unconscious, with his wife attempting CPR. She and several fellow health care professionals who were also skiing that day worked together to try to revive him, but ultimately had to wait eight minutes for a helicopter to arrive with an AED.

"We were on the top of the mountain, a cable-car journey from either of the two local towns," she explains. "The patient remained lying in the snow, as we were unable to move him."

While she says international resuscitation guidelines ensured the impromptu group worked well together, the AED was still needed to fully revive the man, who was ultimately treated successfully and transported off the mountain.

"We therefore support the suggestion that automatic external defibrillators should be placed in public areas and that non-medical personnel should be trained to operate them," write Dr. Davies and a colleague.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: The British Medical Journal, published online Dec. 14, 2006