Dear Dr. SerVaas: I'm e-mailing you to obtain information on your efforts to place defibrillators in schools and police cars. In July of 1999 my 17-year-old daughter suffered sudden cardiac arrest at her friend's home. The cardiologists believe the cause was cardiac spasm or long QT syndrome. EMTs arrived in a timely manner, but she suffered brain damage due to hypoxia.
I believe a defibrillator in that home could have made the outcome different. I would like to be part of this great cause. I'm not only a concerned mother, but a registered nurse. My training is in cardiology and my motivation is my daughter. My husband is a state trooper, and the public would benefit from him having a defibrillator in his car.
Mary Roberts, RN
Fayette, Alabama
Dear Reader: We're glad you would like to be part of the Post's Defibrillator effort. Could you please check our Web site at: www.saturdayeveningpost.com and send us your suggestions?
Also, could we publish more details about your daughter's experience? We would like to include it in The Saturday Evening Post and on our Web sites if you believe it will further the defibrillator cause.
As an RN with a state trooper husband, you will be interested in the Post article about a police captain who saved the life of a colleague with a defibrillator ("Jump-Starting Hearts: A Young Father's Life Saved," March/April 1999). The officer had been reluctant to carry a defibrillator in his squad car but is now a staunch supporter of police defibrillation efforts.
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