4 plus years ago a 49 year old man lost his life while blowing the snow off his sidewalk. A Paramedic (the patients son) witnessed the arrest and started CPR (and I am sure this would be the most wholehearted effort at CPR that he could do). In spite of his best efforts his father died, possibly due to the fact that the debibrillator that arrived with the first responding fire engine had a dead battery. To make matters worse the second battery was dead as well. Shortly thereafter this 49 year old gentleman was also pronounced dead.

An investigation has shown that these batteries were more than 2 years past the manufacturers suggested replacement date. There also seems to have been a failure to identify the dead batteries due to a regular checkout of the defibrillator. There has been a settlement of 3.2 Million dollars in this case (which would have more than paid for those batteries).

Beyond the dollars involved we must remember what got most of us (from the field provider to the administrator)  into this business – the desire to help someone.

Lets keep our eye on the ball and ensure we do everything possible to provide that high level of care we all talk about.

By the way, we may save our self a load of money on the side!

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