By Beatriz E. Valenzuela
The Daily Press
VICTORVILLE, Calif. — All a man heard was a few coughs from his 27-year-old girlfriend before she collapsed to the floor of the movie theater at the Mall of Victor Valley.
He watched her body go limp and he frantically screamed for help.
“It all happened so fast,” said Frankie Demara, a mall security officer and sheriff’s explorer who assisted Deputy Kevin Riberich of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Victorville station on Wednesday night.
Riberich used an automated external defibrillator kept at the shopping center to shock the woman’s heart back into rhythm. When medical personnel transported her to Desert Valley Hospital, she was beginning to breathe on her own.
Riberich, who spent three years as an EMT before becoming a deputy, knows the importance of having these devices for use by the general public.
“They are very simple to use and they are such a great lifesaving tool that I suggest every major office, mall and anywhere there are a lot of people have one of these tools,” Riberich said.
AEDs are a great lifesaving device, according to Jay Hausman, spokesman for the San Bernardino County Fire Victorville station.
“They have saved many a life,” Hausman said. “It’s great to see them put into areas where there’s a large concentration of the general public.”
The quicker a potentially life-saving jolt can be administered when dealing with a quivering or stopped heart, the more likely the person will survive, according to medical professionals.
“You have roughly eight minutes before the brain starts dying from lack of oxygen if the heart stops pumping,” Hausman said. “That shock delivered within the first few minutes can save a life.”
According to the American Heart Association, the use of an AED in conjunction with CPR can more than double the chances of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
The 2007 study showed that of 10,663 patients, nine percent of those who received CPR from a bystander survived. Those who received CPR and had the use of an AED had a survival rate of 36 percent.
That’s why AEDs can be found in most major airports, hotels, sports arenas, amusement parks and even some schools.
“We want to make sure we ae ready and prepared for anything that happens here at the Mall of Victor Valley,” said Vito Bello, marketing manager for the mall. “Having an AED on site and available helps us do that.”
All AEDs approved for use in the United States give voice commands to the users. A person places the pads on the victim as indicated by pictures on the device. The machine then does a scan and either prompts the user to administer a shock or advises it
Though AEDs are designed to be easy to use, officials recommend people take a course that includes training on how to use an AED. The process is taught in many first aid and CPR classes.
CPR 4 Life also provides training and sells the AEDs locally through its Web site, www.LearnCPR4Life.com. The devices cost $1,200 to $1,400.
Bello said mall security is trained on a regular basis on how to use the device, and Demara credits his training and his five years with the Sheriff ‘s Department for helping him with this week’s situation.
On Wednesday, after the AED determined the woman who’d collapsed had a heart rhythm from the first shock, Riberich began CPR until medic personnel arrived and took her to an area hospital. Officials still aren’t sure what caused her heart to stop.
“Cops do more than write parking tickets and eat donuts,” chuckled Riberich. “We actually help those in time of need. We all got into this job to help. One day, you may be getting a ticket one minute and the next minute you could be getting your life saved.”
Copyright 2009 Daily Press