FIRE STATION GETS NEW HEART-SAVING DEVICE.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer Emergency medical technicians e·mer·gen·cy medical technician n. Abbr. EMT A person trained and certified to appraise and initiate the administration of emergency care for victims of trauma or acute illness before or during transportation of victims to a health care at Santa Clarita's main fire station have a new piece of equipment - a defibrillator defibrillator, device that delivers an electrical shock to the heart in order to stop certain forms of rapid heart rhythm disturbances (arrhythmias). The shock changes a fibrillation to an organized rhythm or changes a very rapid and ineffective cardiac rhythm to a that takes half as much time to administer as earlier versions of the life-saving tool. Engine 273 out of Newhall carries the new automatic defibrillator, a device that shocks a malfunctioning heart into a normal rhythm, said Capt. Stephen King <noinclude></noinclude>
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of over 200 stories including over 50 bestselling horror and of the Los Angeles County Fire Department Not to be confused with Los Angeles Fire Department. The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), serves unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 58 cities and towns that choose to have the county provide fire and EMS services, including the City of La . ``It's an upgraded piece of equipment,'' King said Monday. ``These are a little easier to use and the operator has to make fewer decisions.'' Like the defibrillators now being installed on some airlines and in public buildings, the device is operated by a specially trained emergency medical technician. The defibrillator has two 4-inch-by-4-inch patches that adhere to adhere to verb 1. follow, keep, maintain, respect, observe, be true, fulfil, obey, heed, keep to, abide by, be loyal, mind, be constant, be faithful 2. a heart victim's chest. The attached monitor measures the patient's heart rhythm and determines whether electric shock is necessary to stabilize the rhythm, King said. ``The defibrillator reorganizes the electric function of the heart,'' he said. The treatment can mean the difference between life and death, said Vivian Rebel, trauma coordinator at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia. ``One of the most common abnormal heartbeats is ventricular fibrillation ventricular fibrillation Uncoordinated contraction of the muscle fibres of the heart's ventricles (see arrhythmia). Causes include heart attack, electric shock, anoxia, abnormally high potassium or low calcium in the blood, and digitalis or epinephrine poisoning ( , and that is inconsistent with life,'' Rebel said. ``You don't have the electrical conduction. The heart's quivering. The defibrillator shocks the heart, stops the quivering. It gives the heart a chance to resume a normal heartbeat. ``If paramedics don't get there with the defibrillator, you're dead,'' she said |
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