Photograph by Linda Osaki
Chief Ernie Bakin (left), Director of the Public Saftey Dept. and Steve Drewniany (right), EMS coordinator, recognize officer Jeff Schlesinger for saving the life of Hong Sup Shin. Schlesinger used one of 34 AED defibrillators to resuscitate Shin. The units were recently placed in patrol cars.
New defibrillator continues to save lives
Officer uses device to resuciatate man who had heart attack
By Daniel Hindin
Sunnyvale Department, on Jan. 12, of Public Safety Officer Jeff Schlesinger, received a 911 call for service in his police car. He learned a man had gone into cardiac arrest while returning to his Sunnyvale hotel room.
After quickly arriving on scene, Schlesinger applied an Automated External Defibrillator and restored Hong Sup Shin, a man visiting from Korea, cardiac rhythm within minutes of the call. Authorities transferred Shin to El Camino Hospital and he has since remained in good health and returned home to Korea.
The man represents the 16th person successfully resuscitated by the public safety department since it implemented its AED program in 1994.
The AED is a small--2.6 in.x8.6in.x8.6in.--device that delivers an electrical charge to the heart of sudden cardiac arrest victim, allowing the heart to resume normal activity.
"Everyone has probably seen the TV shows," says DPS Officer Steve Drewniany, "where the patient is rushed to the emergency room and the doctor yells 'clear!' as he applies two pads to the patient's chest, delivering an electric charge. Now that the advent of technology allows smaller, less costly models, they've come up with a model for the public."
Sunnyvale's department of public safety recently honored Schlesinger at the Jan. 30 city council meeting for his act of heroism.
Because a victim of cardiac arrest has 10 percent less chance of survival with each minute that goes by, the defiberllator has become a crucial lifesaving device.
"It's the concept of bringing power back to the people," says Amy Tupper of Agilent Technologies, a leading manufacturer of AEDs based in Palo Alto. "You really only have a four-to-six minute window to save people; that's a short period of time. And, placing no blame on the firefighters, the reality of this area is that emergency response time is usually going to be slower than that. Defibrillation is the only way to solve cardiac arrest. The technology wasn't there a few years ago. Now anyone can learn to do CPR and use an AED within four hours."
Agilent couldn't have made the AED any simpler to use. After opening the device, the user only needs to follow three simple steps printed in large writing in plain view. The entire process involves applying two pads to the victim's chest and pressing two large, flashing buttons. Using an AED is virtually foolproof.
Sunnyvale has 600 employees trained in AED usage and has installed defibrillators in every public building and police car as well as inside the Silicon Valley WAVE, formerly known as the Town Center Mall.
Tupper says, "Sunnyvale was very visionary and they really blazed the trail. The city has given it proper funding and they offer to train businesses to use them. Subsequently, other cities are trying to follow suit. Silicon Valley is at the forefront, but it's beginning to spread like wildfire."
According to Tupper, Mountain View has begun to install AEDs in their patrol cars, and San Francisco, San Diego and Anaheim have adopted large programs. She says that since airports have the highest rate of cardiac arrest, the San Francisco and San Jose airports have installed defibrillators throughout their terminals.
"Many businesses have employees that volunteer to be part of their AED team," Tupper adds. "AMD, Applied Materials and Sun Microsystems all have AEDs on their campuses, and Cisco will have them soon. This is what is going to continue to happen all over the country."
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
