Heart Docs Want a Defibrillator in Your Home

Paul Kurtz | KYW Newsradio 1060 | January 20, 2007

Two dozen South Jersey cardiologists have bought automated external defibrillators for their homes and they believe a lot of people should do the same thing.

The group is demonstrating life-saving techniques Saturday at the Cherry Hill Public Library.

Despite years of training and expertise, Dr. Sanford Gips says if someone has a heart attack in front of him, he is basically powerless. That’s why he and his 23 partners at Cardiovascular Associates of the Delaware Valley bought their own automated external defibrillators.

“If defibrillation is administered rapidly, your survival is like 80 percent as opposed to 10 or five percent survival if nine or ten minutes have elapsed before the ambulance arrives.”

Home defibrillators aren’t cheap, but the price has come down to under a thousand dollars. Gips believes it’s a relatively small price to pay, especially for those who are at greater risk of suffering a heart attack.

Many people these days don’t flinch to spend $3,000 on a plasma television, but a plasma television never saved anyone’s life.

As the price continues to drop, Gips hopes that someday home defibrillators will be as ubiquitous as smoke alarms.