Sunday, September 29, 2013

World Heart day Awareness


On 24th September 2013– I was invited to the Philips Innovation Center In an initiative to spread awareness on managing Sudden Cardiac Arrests (SCA) and thereby saving lives, a detailed demonstration of the Automated External Defibrillator The initiative was part of “World Heart Day” that is being celebrated Today i.e, 29th September.




A portable device,Automated External Defibrillator (AED) 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 Infomatics, Philips Healthcare, India.

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.
About AED: 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.




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.

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