Health clubs sued after members suffer heart attacks. (Government Watch).

Health clubs in Boston and Sugar Land, TX, were sued by individuals who claimed that they or a member of their family had suffered after having heart attacks at facilities that were not equipped with automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). In the first case, a man alleged that he was unconscious for about nine minutes until paramedics arrived, increasing the risk of brain damage. In the second case, the widow of a man who died of a heart attack after working out at his club complained that it lacked basic safety equipment and staff trained in lifesaving measures. She further claimed that it failed to summon emergency personnel, instead calling the woman to take her husband home (he died en route to the hospital). For additional information on AEDs, as well as a list of AED legislation by state please visit www.cmaa.org/legislat/aed.htm.