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FOR THE HEART, City has defibrillators at 11 locations
BY DAN EAKIN, Staff Writer
People who may have heart problems at any one of 11 locations in the city can breathe easier due to the installation of defibrillators by city workers.
Melinda Galler, director of human resources, said the city council included the cost of the defibrillators in the budget approved last fall. The defibrillators were installed earlier this year at a total cost of $22,543.
The defibrillators have been installed in the Lewisville Annex Atrium, Lewisville Library, city hall (first floor), the public services facility on Kealy Drive, the water plant, Civic Circle Recreation Center, Memorial Park Recreation Center, Lewisville Senior Center and at both the College Street and Sun Valley swimming pools.
She said directions of the defibrillator are clear enough that, if necessary, an untrained person could use the defibrillator in case of an emergency. She said someone should immediately call 911 while the defibrillator is being used, to summon paramedics.
A defibrillator, according to Wikipedia, is a medical device used in the defibrillation of the heart. It consists of a central unit and a set of two electrodes. The two electrodes are placed directly on the patient.
The device is designed to deliver an electrical shock to the patient in an effort to stop ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation is a situation of electrical chaos in the heart’s conduction system, in essence distorting the coordinated contraction of cardiac muscular tissue.
This leads to a situation where the heart produces minimal or no forward blood flow, causing circulatory arrest and death within minutes from brain damage.
The defibrillation current depolarizes the entire electrical system of the heart, causing a complete cessation of electrical activity. This, in turn, gives the opportunity of impulses from the normal conduction pathways to regain control of the muscular tissue.
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