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SILICON
CHIP
www.siliconchip.com.au
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD
Production Manager
Greg Swain, B.Sc. (Hons.)
Technical Editor
John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)
Technical Staff
Ross Tester
Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc
Nicholas Vinen
Photography
Ross Tester
Reader Services
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Advertising Enquiries
Glyn Smith
Phone (02) 9939 3295
Mobile 0431 792 293
glyn<at>siliconchip.com.au
Regular Contributors
Brendan Akhurst
David Maddison B.App.Sc. (Hons 1),
PhD, Grad.Dip.Entr.Innov.
Kevin Poulter
Dave Thompson
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2 Silicon Chip
Publisher’s Letter
A defibrillator could save your life
or that of your friend
While some readers may find it a little odd that we
have a feature article on defibrillators this month, I
can assure them that it is a particularly apt topic for
SILICON CHIP. In the first place, we have quite a lot of
older readers and the longer you live, the more chance
there is that you might have a sudden cardiac arrest
(SCA). Mind you, young people are also at considerable risk of an SCA if they play strenuous sports or
engage in a heavy weight-lifting regimen at their local gym. But sadly, an
even more common risk factor for an SCA among people can be if they take
drugs, particularly ICE.
However, that is not the main reason why I decided to have this feature produced. In the last few months of 2015, I had tentatively decided that we would
purchase one these devices to install in our editorial office. Again, without going
into details, some of our own staff are moving into the risk profile (ahem) and
you never know. But the pressure of work intervened and we did not proceed.
And then just before Christmas, I was galvanised into action. It so happens
that I am a keen ballroom dancer and I do this several times a week. Inevitably, many dancers are fairly senior even though they are often very fit. I am
particularly keen on the Viennese Waltz and it is renowned as probably the
most strenuous dance. So much so that I have often thought that some of the
older dancers should not even attempt to do the Viennese, especially as there
is also the risk of a fall while you do it. Having recently had a fall while doing
that dance, I know how unpleasant it is. Fortunately, I was not hurt.
However, during a Viennese Waltz at a dance in the following week, someone did fall – and he fell heavily. I immediately knew that this was not good.
The dance was stopped and it was found that the fallen dancer was not only
unconscious but had no evidence of a pulse. Fortunately, there were a couple
of nurses present and they started CPR while an ambulance was called. Several
people frantically searched the venue to find if there was a defibrillator available but there was none. So we hoped that the ambulance would arrive with
one. But the ambulance took quite a while to arrive and when it did, it did not
have one. By this time, I knew that the outcome was unlikely to be good. The
man was declared dead about half an hour later.
This caused me serious pangs of guilt because I had recently raised the
topic with the organiser of the dance but again, nothing had been done. I shall
never know whether a defibrillator would have saved him but I resolved to
make sure that if someone does collapse at a dance in the future, there will be
a defibrillator on hand.
First, we have purchased a defibrillator for our office and I intend to take it
to the dances until such time as the respective venues have their own units.
Second, by the time you read this, I will have taken a 2-day first-aid course
to bring me up to date; it is many years since I did it. Think about your own
activities and consider whether you should also do a first-aid course. It is no
burden to have such knowledge and it may save a life in the future.
In the overall scheme of things, defibrillators are not expensive, at typically
less than $3000. Every workplace, sporting venue, hotel, club and most local
council venues should have them. You can help make this happen.
Leo Simpson
siliconchip.com.au
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