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Man Saved By Defibrillator Works to Get More in Public Places

Posted on: Saturday, 25 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Cindy Clayton, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Mar. 25--CHESAPEAKE -- Ken Sydow had walked past the little machine at the Greenbrier Family YMCA dozens of times.

Sydow, who had been working out at the facility for nearly a decade, thought he was in pretty good shape. He was taking cholesterol-lowering medication.

Then about two years ago, he stepped off the treadmill and went into cardiac arrest.

Someone started CPR. Someone else got the little machine -- an automated external defibrillator -- from the front desk area.

Sydow credits the device, which uses electric current to restart a heart, with saving his life.

Sydow underwent an angioplasty for an artery that was 90 percent blocked, he said. Now, he has a tiny defibrillator implanted inside his chest.

"Basically, God was looking for me that day the way everything fell into place," said Sydow, 67. "I think the availability of these defibrillators in public areas is important."

Sydow has agreed to help promote the Chesapeake Fire Department's push to get the devices -- often called AEDs -- into more public places.

Already, the city is working to put them in all its recreation centers, said Ted Ambrose, a fire department spokesman.

All of the city's high schools have AEDs, thanks to a foundation begun by the family of a high school student who died after cardiac arrest in the early 1990s.

The city's central library, health department offices and some other buildings have AEDs available, as do several private agencies and companies, Ambrose said. Fire officials would like to see even more.

"In everyday life, we're faced with these things like cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death," Ambrose said. "There's no sense in somebody dying unnecessarily when the technology is there and a lay person can deliver that lifesaving intervention."

The day Sydow went into cardiac arrest, Todd Reynolds sprang into action. The Greenbrier Family YMCA's aquatics director teaches CPR and AED use. Sydow's attack was the first time he had used an AED to restart a real heart.

"I'll never forget it," Reynolds said. "I'm just happy I was there to be able to do it."

Now, Sydow, who also is certified in CPR and AED use, makes regular appearances to speak to Reynolds' classes about his experience.

Sydow said he's back to a regular workout routine, but his perspective has changed a bit.

"You really don't know how many days you have left," Sydow said. "When you have an event like that and it could have been it, and you get a reprieve, time is much more precious to you."

The American Heart Association estimates that more than 200,000 people die each year from sudden cardiac arrest, according to the group's Web site.

That number alone should be enough to convince people of the importance of AEDs, Sydow said.

"It might make the difference between someone living and dying," Sydow said.

Reach Cindy Clayton at (757) 222-5201 or cindy.clayton@pilotonline.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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