AED lawsuit threat diminishes
By Kara Chalmers
In its new CPR and First Aid classes, the American Red Cross has included information on operating automated external defibrillators. But the portable machines, which help save the lives of victims of cardiac arrest, are so user-friendly that they are practically "idiot-proof," say some staff members at the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross in San Jose
"The technology has made it so that anyone can use it--with little training," said Mark Johnson, the Health and Safety Services director.
The unit talks the operator through the process of administering shocks to a victim and the operator cannot choose to increase the voltage sent through the pads on the victim's chest. The shocks of an AED may make the victim jump, but not in the exaggerated way seen on television, Johnson added.
In addition, a state bill limiting the liability for non-medical "good Samaritans" who try to save their coworkers' lives by using AEDs, went into effect Jan. 1. Senate Bill 911, appropriately named, allows laypersons to use the machines, which up until a few years ago were regarded as tools for only doctors and nurses.
In Silicon Valley, AEDs are becoming more common. There is a unit in the San Jose Airport, and the city of Sunnyvale has instituted AEDs in all police and fire vehicles and in city buildings. The Sunnyvale Town Center Mall recently purchased five of them.
In Saratoga, AEDs are not as commonplace, but the Saratoga Fire District has AEDs on all of its engines, and all personnel are trained to use them. West Valley College just purchased an AED for the campus, according to Ruth Carlson, spokesperson for the college. And thanks to Dr. Harry Slesnick, the Southwest YMCA now has a unit in the lobby of its facility on Quito Road.
Ron Vega, the Saratoga Fire District's Emergency Medical Services Coordinator, said that the district is now training all city staff, including the City Council, in basic CPR and First Aid, a program that will be completed by the end of February.
Johnson says the Red Cross would like to see AEDs in more public places. Within the next five years, he guesses, they will be as common as fire extinguishers.
Until recently, some companies have hesitated about having AEDs in the workplace because of their cost and the misperception of liability if the device was believed to have been misused, Johnson said. Today, AEDs cost between $3,000 and $4,000, and companies may be threatened with lawsuits by not having AEDs available and not having employees trained, Johnson said.
"In the past, laws were written not knowing the advances of AEDs, so people were afraid of liability," said Anthony Marek, Red Cross communications director. "The technology is now so advanced, the AED is idiot-proof, and the company that makes it stands by its product."
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
