American Med Supply advises all travelers to book a hotel equipped with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) since James Gandolfini’s recent death could have been prevented if his hotel had an AED according to a UCLA cardiologist.
“James Gandolfini absolutely may have survived if hotel personnel had used an AED when they found him,” said Dr. Matthew Budoff, an associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA and a renowned cardiologist, during an interview with the National Enquirer.
“For each minute that passes following a heart attack, the survival rates drop by 10 percent. So if five minutes pass without assistance by the AED, his survival rate is 50 percent. If 10 minutes go by, the risk of dying is 100 percent,” added Dr. Budoff in the National Enquirer. “There is no question that had they used an AED when they first found James Gandolfini, his chances of survival would have been greatly improved.”
An AED is a small laptop-sized device that can automatically restart a heart after sudden cardiac arrest. A New England Journal of Medicine study found that public access to AEDs doubled the chances of survival in cardiac-arrest cases.
“More lives can be saved if additional hotels put their guests first and invest in AEDs,” said Allyn Cutts, co-founder of American Med Supply, a retailer of AEDs including Heartsine PAD AED, Zoll Plus AED and Philips Onsite Defibrillator. “We recommend that travelers call before making an online reservation and ask if the hotel is equipped with an AED because this critical information is not available on travel websites.”
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that most hotels do not invest in AEDs to protect their guests. Global Hyatt Corp. stated just approximately 20% of its hotels have AEDs. Choice Hotels International Inc. stated “very few” of its hotels are equipped with AEDs, while InterContinental Hotels Group stated it does not require its hotels to have them.
According to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, 359,400 Americans experience out-of-hospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest each year. When bystanders intervene with Automated External Defibrillators, four out of 10 victims survive.
