Olympic Winning Coach Tommy Lasorda First to Donate Life-Saving Heart Defibrillator in New Celebrity Donor Program at Los Angeles City Airports.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 2000

Tommy Lasorda will join officials from Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the American Heart Association, and the non-profit Start-A-Heart at a press conference today to announce the installation of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at LAWA's four airports: Los Angeles International (LAX), Ontario International, Palmdale Regional, and Van Nuys.

The press conference is scheduled at 10:00 am at the LAWA Board Room, located at One World Way in LAX.

Start-a-Heart, based in Hermosa Beach, California, will install 120 AEDs through a celebrity donor program unique to LAWA, called "Concourses of Fame." Plaques identifying individual celebrity donors will be affixed to wall cabinets housing the AEDs.

Lasorda, a heart disease survivor who recently coached the United States baseball team to an Olympic gold medal, is the first celebrity to donate an AED to LAWA's program. During the press conference, Lasorda will demonstrate the ease-of-use of an AED. LAWA is the first Los Angeles City department to place AEDs in its facilities.

During the press conference, the American Heart Association will launch its "Operation Heartbeat" program to the greater metropolitan Los Angeles area. This program trains the lay-public to recognize the signs of sudden cardiac arrest, to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and to use AEDs.

The non-profit association plans to organize mass and in-school CPR/AED training programs, as well as continue to advocate for the placement of AEDs community-wide.

"I am pleased to have authored a motion to initiate an AED program in the City of Los Angeles which will ensure that City facilities are equipped with AEDs," said Los Angeles City Councilmember Rudy Svorinich, Jr., (District 15), who introduced a motion to the City Council in February 1999 mandating that all city departments develop an AED program. "Furthermore, I would like to thank Los Angeles World Airports, the American Heart Association and Start-A-Heart for their continued support of the City's AED Program. Their commitment to this effort will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the City of Los Angeles."

LAWA Deputy Executive Director of Airports Operations Michael DiGirolamo said, "Los Angeles World Airports is pleased to join the American Heart Association's efforts to increase awareness of AEDs to the public. Our first and foremost responsibility at our four airports is passenger safety. By making AEDs accessible in our passenger terminals and common-use facilities, we are providing essential tools that may save a person's life."

According to Dr. Marc Eckstein, medical director of both the City of Los Angeles AED program and LAWA's Public-Access Defibrillation Program, an average of 15 sudden cardiac arrests occur at LAX annually and two at Ontario International Airport.

"Installing AEDs in Los Angeles World Airports' facilities assures the travelling public that if cardiac arrest occurs, help is nearby," says Dr. Frederick W. James, president of the American Heart Association, Western States Affiliate. "Without the precedent-setting support of Councilmember Rudy Svorinich and LAWA, we would not be here today."

According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac arrest claims the lives of 250,000 Americans each year, and the association estimates that 50,000 of those victims could be saved if access to early defibrillation is available. Sudden cardiac arrest is the rapid, uncoordinated beating of the heart, generally caused by ventricular tachycardia. When sudden cardiac arrest occurs, the victim stops breathing and the heart cannot effectively pump blood through the body. CPR can maintain a victim until defibrillation is available, but the only known treatment for sudden cardiac arrest is defibrillation -- administering an electrical shock to the heart to restore a viable heart rhythm.

"Widespread community access to AEDs will reduce the toll of sudden cardiac arrest," said AHA President James. "Although CPR can continue blood flow through the body, every minute that defibrillation is delayed, the likelihood that the victim will survive is reduced by 10 percent."

AEDs are portable, easy-to-use devices that deliver an electrical shock to the heart, reestablishing a viable heart rhythm. The machine weighs less than five pounds and is the size of a telephone directory. At the push of a button, voice prompts guide a layman in its use. Diagrams are included to show where to place defibrillator pads over a victim's chest. Once the pads are in place, the defibrillator conducts a multi-faceted analysis to determine whether defibrillation is necessary. An electrical shock can only be administered when the AED monitor recommends it.

LAWA expects to begin installing the automated external defibrillators at its four airports in early 2001.

NOTE TO EDITORS: B-roll will be available following the press conference. Please call LAWA Public Affairs at 310/646-5260.