HEALTH & FITNESS
on the cover

Rich Crackei teaches Franklin Athletic Club employees a certification course in first
aid, CPR and the use of the AED. From left: Albert Antonyan of Royal Oak, Robert
Bajer of Hamtramck and Sarah Paske of Farmington Hills.

Franklin Athletic Club's Robert Bajer of Hamtramck, Sarah Paske of Farmington
Hills and Erin Krugel of Huntington Woods improve their medical emergency skills.

Lifesaver from page 15

and adults through an arrangement with
Providence Hospital, Arndt said. They are
retrained every two years. A new hire must
complete training within 30 days at the
club's expense.
"We've had a couple of heart attacks over
the years': he said. "I think the last one was
five years ago. I tell staff it's not a question
of if, it's a question of when."
The price of AEDs has come down con-
siderably from the $8,000 Arndt originally
paid. You can find them online from $800-
$3,300. "Pretty soon," Arndt predicted,
"they'll be in everybody's homes:"

Mark Lit plans to further expand the
JCC's medical emergency preparedness.

Power House Gym
Larry Horn, 44, a West Bloomfield

Quick Reston

Jewish state senator's bills are heartfelt.

T

hey call me the defibrillator
queen," offered state Sen.
Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington

Woods.
That's because she is behind two
new laws and a bill that will come up
for consideration in 2007 — all requir-
ing automated external defibrillators
(AEDs) to be available where they are
most needed.
Her bill mandating fitness clubs to
install AEDs and train employees to
use them was signed into law in March
2006 and took effect Feb. 21.
Jacobs sponsored the law after Greg
Bolak, 49, of Huntington Woods, a
Ferndale elementary school principal,
died in 2000 while playing basketball

16

February 22 2007

at the South Oakland Family YMCA. A
defibrillator might have saved him, she
said.
Another of her bills mandating life
support vehicles be equipped with
AEDs became law Jan. 3.
A third bill that she will re-introduce
in 2007 would require AEDs in clearly
marked police vehicles. They include
those used by communities, counties,
the state, tribes, colleges and universi-
ties.
"I'd like to see them in more places,"
she said. "The price has gone down,
they're very easy to use and the poten-
tial for saving lives has been docu-
mented."
Each year, more than 250,000

Township trustee, died from a massive
heart attack after exercising last May at the
Power House Gym in West Bloomfield.
"We were in the process of evaluating
various (AED) models when it happened,"
said PHG co-owner Ron Azzo. "That's the
worst thing in the 15 years we've been
operating. In all fairness, it wasn't the
money. It was the legal implications."
Azzo suggested that the state's Good
Samaritan Law (see related story) might
not cover every circumstance.
But after Horn's death, Azzo said, "We
ordered an AED immediately and placed
it in the cardio-room. All our trainers are
certified."
And Power House runs classes, teach-

ing its use and new CPR techniques. "New
technology makes it safer," Azzo said. "It's
a smart thing to have even if it wasn't
required."
Kennet, of course, agrees. In fact, he's
come up with a plan to place more AEDs
into the community and to honor the
people that helped him. He has asked each
one to come up with an agency, such as a
homeless shelter, senior center or religious
institution that may not have the budget to
buy an AED. He would donate one in their
name.
"How do you thank the people who
brought you back to life?" Kennet asked.
"There are so many people who depend on
you. No ordinary gift would be enough." El

Americans die from sudden cardiac
arrest, according to the American
Heart Association. The key to survival
is timely initiation of a four-step "chain
of survival." It includes early access to
medical care (calling 9-1-1); early car-
diopulmonary resus-
citation (CPR); early
defibrillation (access
to an AED); and early
advanced medical
care.
The AED is a
device about the
size of a telephone
Sen. Jacobs
book. It analyzes a
victim's heart rhythm and tells the
person responding to the emergency
whether to deliver an electrical shock
to a victim of sudden cardiac arrest.
This shock can lead to defibrillation
that allows the heart to resume normal

rhythm.
At least 20,000 lives could be saved
annually by prompt use of AEDs, says
the American Heart Association. As
they become more available and used
by trained responders, as many as
50,000 deaths from sudden cardiac
arrest could be prevented annually.
A scientific statement urging fitness
clubs to install them is on record by the
American Heart Association and the
American College of Sports Medicine.
Good Samaritan laws in all 50 states
provide legal protections to citizens
who respond to medical emergencies.
In Michigan, a 1999 amendment to its
1963 Good Samaritan law specifically
limits the liability of those who use an
AED to render emergency service to
another person.

- Judith Doner Berne