Originally published February 2 2006
Study determines heart defibrillators come in handy in shopping centers and airports
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The European Heart Journal has published a report that has determined the positive effects of storing heart defibrillators in public places, as the mortality rate of cardiac arrest victims dropped dramatically in study populations.
The team found the one-year survival rate trebled to three in 100 patients.
Defibrillators have been placed in shopping centres, railway stations and airports in the UK in recent years to be used by trained volunteers.
The researchers, from Milan, Brescia and Washington universities, also said the study proved that defibrillators could easily and safely be operated by lay people.
And they concluded that if the response time for using defibrillators was shortened to within eight minutes, it would save the lives of 15 out of 100 people who collapse with cardiac arrest.
The defibrillators work by delivering a controlled electric shock through the chest wall to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat after a cardiac arrest.
After analysing nearly 1,400 cardiac arrest victims they found one in 100 survived to a year after their attack without any neurological problems before 2000, compared to three in 100 after.
Lead researcher Riccardo Cappato said: "There was an increase in survival for patients in both urban and rural areas, although it was significantly larger in the city than the countryside due to the shorter response time and larger number of defibrillators available."
More than 2,000 defibrillators have been earmarked for public places, such as airports, railway and underground stations, coach stations, ferry ports and shopping centres, across the UK through the lottery-funded National Defibrillator Programme.
Colin Elding, medical spokesman for the British Heart Foundation, said: "Modern defibrillators are becoming increasingly quick and easy for the lay person to use, which can mean the difference between life and death.
"Every second counts when someone's heart goes into cardiac arrest.
"An electric shock needs to be delivered to the chest as quickly as possible to restore the person's heart to a normal rhythm."
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