By Peggy O'Farrell
Enquirer staff writer

Terri Alford (center) poses with Terry Harris, holding a semi-automatic defibrillator (left red shirt) and Scott Machesney at her desk in the sourcing department at General Electric in Evendale. (Brandi Stafford/The Enquirer)

Terri Alford really likes the idea of putting automated external defibrillators in the workplace and training employees to do CPR. A lot.

In 1999, co-workers used both when Alford collapsed at work. They kept her alive so that paramedics could get her to a hospital.

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that chances of surviving cardiac arrest quadrupled if fast-acting bystanders performed CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) instead of waiting for the paramedics to arrive, while a shock from a defibrillator delivered within eight minutes tripled the odds of survival.

The same study found that fast-acting bystanders saved as many lives using CPR and defibrillators as paramedics did.

The study comes as more and more defibrillators are being installed in work sites, fitness clubs, public places and private homes. About 60,000 people collapse every year with a short-circuit of the heart that can only be corrected with an electrical shock to it.

GE Transportation in Evendale, where Alford has worked for the last 15 years, was one of the first employers in Cincinnati to install defibrillators. Curves for Women and other companies are now installing them.

'It's just a miracle'

It was about 9 a.m. on a Wednesday when Alford, 47, of Glen Este, went into cardiac arrest.

"I felt very, very nauseated. It was just overwhelming," she says. "Then it gets kind of blurry. I apparently passed out and fell onto my desk."

Alford's heart went into ventricular fibrillation (on ER, it's called V-fib) - the ventricles, or lower chambers of the heart, began pumping in a very fast, uncoordinated rhythm, causing little or no blood to be pumped into the heart. The condition can be fatal if it's not treated quickly.

Co-workers in the cubicles surrounding Alford's yelled for help. Two co-workers began performing CPR on her, and then a nurse from GE's infirmary came with a defibrillator.

"He zapped my heart back into rhythm," Alford says.

"We're a technology-driven company and we have an aging workforce," says Dr. John Zerbe, medical director of the GE plant in Evendale. "And the AED (automated external defibrillator) is inexpensive technology. If you want to translate it into money invested and lives saved, it's a very inexpensive tool. I think every business should have it, every golf club, every tennis club, every supermarket. With the standard of care in Cincinnati, you should never be more than five minutes away from one of these."

Before her collapse at work, Alford had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy - damage to the heart muscle caused by infection, high blood pressure or other causes.

After her cardiac arrest, Alford was hospitalized and surgeons implanted a defibrillator into her heart.

She was back at work the next week.

Alford doesn't know why she went into V-fib, but she's grateful that help was handy.

"It's just a miracle that it all happened like that," she says.

Evidence favors defibrillators

Dr. Abdul Haji, a cardiologist who specializes in electrical disturbances of the heart, says there's plenty of evidence to support putting defibrillators into homes, offices, gyms and other public spaces.

"The New England Journal study clearly showed that they can save lives if you put them in public places," Haji says. "Even laymen can put these on the person who has collapsed. We have studies to show that they can save lives."

A computer within the defibrillator monitors the heart's rhythm. If the paddles are placed correctly and the heart is in V-fib, the unit delivers an electrical shock to restore normal rhythm, Haji says.

If the paddles aren't placed correctly or the heart is beating normally, the defibrillator won't deliver a shock.

Several vendors offer defibrillators that can be installed in the home or workplace. The cost ranges from about $1,500 to about $3,000, and prescriptions are required. The American Red Cross also sells defibrillators for about $2,000.

Schiller AG, a Swiss company, is seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a pocket-sized defibrillator called FRED (first responder external defibrillator).

The FDA is also considering whether to allow the sale of the Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator, made in Seattle, without a prescription.

Several Curves for Women gyms in the Cincinnati area have installed defibrillators.

Wanda Sinkey, who owns the Curves for Women gyms in Hyde Park and Mariemont, called the units "the first line of defense" for customers who might suffer cardiac arrest while exercising.

The defibrillators installed at Curves are "very self-explanatory" and easy to use, says Sinkey, who underwent defibrillator and CPR training.

"You open the thing up and it literally talks you through the process and tells you what to do," she says.

So far, she says, she hasn't had to use the defibrillator.

"I hope I never do."

Shopping for shocks

Several companies offer automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for use in the home. A doctor's prescription is necessary.

www.aed4u.com offers several models at discounted prices. Examples: a Philips Onsite AED for $1,499 or a Defibtech DDU100 for $1,040.

unitedcardiac.com offers several models below list price, along with instructional videos and supplies.

www.medical.philips.com offers a variety of AEDs manufactured by Philips Medical Systems.Learning about CPRThe American Red Cross offers CPR training for businesses, groups and individuals. To learn more, call (513) 792-4000 or visit www.cincinnatiredcross.org.

E-mail pofarrell@enquirer.com