Defibrillators

29 2007 10:21 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff A growing chorus of doctors and parents is calling for They say the devices could help save lives in cases where children with undiagnosed heart problems collapse from cardiac arrest.

Doctors say such incidents are not as rare as one might think, and having a defibrillator nearby could save many young lives.

Dorothy and John McEachern lost their son Chase to sudden cardiac arrest.

"He collapsed at school on February 9, 2006.

It was in gym class," says Dorothy.

The avid athlete had an underlying heart problem.

His heart started beating wildly.

By the time he got to hospital, Chase had already incurred severe brain damage.

He later died.

"You could say it's rare, but it does happen to children," says his father, John.

Last month, an eight-year-old Toronto-area boy also died at school during phys.

ed class, becau...

This is added insurance,” he said.

AEDs are small, portable devices designed to enable a user to shock a person who is suffering from cardiac arrest.

The devices, provided by Medtronic Emergency Response System, a company that specializes in defibrillator technology, are available on walls directly under AED signs all over the airport.

The machines can be found in baggage claim, concourses A-E, security checkpoint areas and several other places.

The devices are fairly easy to use.

First a button has to be pressed to turn the defibrillator on.

Then users pull a handle to retrieve the electrode pads.

Visual displays and/or an audible voice will instruct the user where to place the electrode pads.

The pads analyze the victim’s heart rhythm to determine if shock is needed by using a built-in computer program.

If and when instructed, the user then presses a flashing button to administer the shock.

Geri Jackson, of Morrow, believes the devices can provide critical treatment when time is of the essence.

“I think that this is a very good idea,” s...