Emergency services - fda approves over-the-counter defib sales

Author

fda approves over-the-counter defib sales

danny burstein

2004-09-22, 2:14 am

"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted marketing clearance for
the first time for the over-the-counter sale of an automatic external
defibrillator designed specifically for lay users. The device shocks the heart
to restore rhythm in people who are experiencing cardiac arrest.

"The device, the HeartStart Home Defibrillator manufactured by Philips
Medical Systems of Andover, Mass., is already available with a
prescription for use at home. Today's clearance means it can now be
purchased for home use without a prescription.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWE...4/ANS01314.html

_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

Carey Gregory

2004-09-22, 7:15 am

Notan <notan@ddress.com> wrote:

>Just wait 'til some irresponsible parent lets their kid
>get their hands on one!

So what? It won't do anything.

Notan

2004-09-22, 11:13 am

Carey Gregory wrote:
>
> Notan <notan@ddress.com> wrote:
>
>
> So what? It won't do anything.

Call me old fashioned.

I know they're supposed to be able to interpret cardiac rhythms,
and shock, or not, accordingly, but I still have a problem with
that.

While it's FDA approved (The FDA... A whole 'nother can of worms!),
I can still see a unit interpreting artifact as fib, and...

Notan

Alan Erskine

2004-09-22, 7:26 pm

"Carey Gregory" <tiredofspam123@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:qdekk0tdlfccfmtnifk6h0b3566ev46gc7@4ax.com...
> Notan <notan@ddress.com> wrote:
>
>
> So what? It won't do anything.
>

I don't think any equipment for life support should be in untrained hands -
even something as basic as a first aid kit can cause problems if it's not
used properly. Something like a defibrilator would be just as bad.

--
Alan Erskine
We can get people to the Moon in five years,
not the fifteen GWB proposes.
Give NASA a real challenge
Alanterskine1@bigpond.com

Joe Bramblett, KD5NRH

2004-10-20, 2:08 am

paulsydneynsw1225@hotmail.com (paul) wrote in
news:ee6a9d61.0409172031.291b416@posting.google.com:

> I don't think any equipment for life support should be in untrained hands

So nobody should have food to prevent starvation, untrained folks should be
kept in a helium environment so one won't be able to prevent suffocation,
and nobody without proper licensing should be able to handle water?

Hell, I'm the first to admit that I wouldn't even try to use several of the
things in my first aid kit on another person; for the most part, they're in
there in case I need someone with the skills but without the gear to use
them on me...or on the off chance that I'm coherent and calm enough to use
some of them on myself if they're actually needed.

For that matter, the only things I usually have in there that aren't "just
for me" are lots of 4x4s and lots of tape.

Joe Bramblett, KD5NRH

2004-10-26, 11:10 am