Posidonia heart attack death points to the need for onboard defibrillators

The call for all ships to be fitted with defibrillators to protect seafarers against the threat of heart attack was brought home to the international shipping community with sad consequences at the Posidonia shipping exhibition in Greece when a 72 year old visitor to the show collapsed and died from a heart attack.

Medics from the Hellenic Red Cross were called to the entrance to the show on Thursday after the visitor was reported to have collapsed and had stopped breathing. They immediately performed CPR and then used a defibrillator supplied by Ship Medical, sponsors of the Red Cross first aid station. Ship Medical had supplied the defibrillator because of the fear of such an event occuring.

A medic from the Hellenic Red Cross, who tried to save the man’s life, said they managed to maintain CPR until the ambulance arrived. He said that without doubt, defibrillators should be an essential item of equipment onboard every ship.

Ship Medical defibrillator

Emergency defibrillator for ships
LIFEFORCE®
The World's Only AED to be Type Approved for the Marine Environment
Protect your crew from the world's biggest killer!
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the world's biggest killer, killing over 3 million people worldwide every year. Even on land the chances of the emergency services reaching a victim in time are slim, at sea the chances are zero.
The only proven way to treat SCA is by delivering an electric shock to the heart to restore a normal heart rhythm. This is called defibrillation and can make the difference between saving a life and having a victim die. If a victim receives defibrillation within the vital first 3 minutes the chances of survival are increased by up to a staggering 70%.

Seafarer's Union hails LIFEFORCE® and calls for defibrillators on all ships.

For more info click here