Defibrillators at hotels credited with saving lives

Stephen Curran

Monday, Sept. 9, 2002 | 9:19 a.m.

A device that weighs about as much as a notebook computer is credited with helping to save the lives of nearly two dozen tourists at a local hotel in the past five years.

Automated External Defibrillators (AED), which allow trained personnel to "shock" someone in cardiac arrest, have been strategically placed at Coast Casinos properties since 1997.

Bob Berglund, Coast's vice president of risk management, said Coast was among the first gaming companies to have the devices in place.

The devices cost about $3,500 and are now in place at nearly all hotels in the Las Vegas area, Berglund said.

Most recently the five-pound device was credited with helping to save the life of a 70-year-old Illinois man coming out of a restaurant at The Orleans, Berglund said.

Including this most recent case, employees at The Orleans have successfully used the machines 22 times in emergencies, Berglund said.

"This is the most positive spin of all things that could've happened," Berglund said. "Before this equipment, this man might not have made it."

A study released by the American Medical Response ambulance company shows that of the 271 cardiac arrests on the Strip, in Laughlin casinos and at McCarran International Airport since 1997, 50 percent of those patients were discharged from the hospital with no long-term damage.

This is in contrast to a rate of 25 percent in areas where AEDs are not as common, said Derek Cox, clinical and education coordinator for AMR.

"What the numbers prove is that (the AED devices) work," Cox said.

Medical data dictates that people are more likely to survive a cardiac attack if they are defibrillated within a couple minutes -- a time frame AEDs make more realistic, Pete Carlo, clinical manager for Southwest Ambulance, said.

An employee was able to get the life-saving device to the elderly tourist at The Orleans in one minute and 33 seconds, Berglund said.

AEDs have become increasingly common in Las Vegas in the past two to three years, Carlo said, and have helped rescue workers in cases in which they otherwise might not be able to reach a patient in a crowded casino in time.

Employees at Coast Casinos are trained to use AEDs by the National Emergency Services Academy, a nonprofit research group, and the Clark County Fire Department.

AMR also provides classes in operating the device.

The training provides a kind of insurance, Berglund said. Good Samaritan laws protect people administering shock, as long as they are properly certified.