| Market
Installs Defibrillator; Opens New Pharmacy Addition
- June 22, 2005
With the completion of its 10,000-square-foot addition in
May, Baesler's Market was able to open its new a full-service
pharmacy, where customers can have prescriptions filled while
grocery shopping as well as pick up over-the-counter medications,
pharmacy supplies and cosmetics. But store owner Bob Baesler's
concern for the health of his customers doesn't stop there.
Baesler knows that cardiac arrest can strike an individual
at work, at home, at a ball game, even at the grocery store.
He's also well aware of the statistics that say a person's
chance of surviving cardiac arrest decreases by 7 to 10 percent
with every minute that ticks by without defibrillation (electrical
shock to the heart that can restore its normal rhythm). The
American Heart Association estimates that 50,000 lives would
be saved every year in the United States if automatic external
defibrillators (AEDs) were more widely available.
Baesler wanted to be part of this life-saving statistic, so
he installed an AED at Baesler's Market at 29th and Poplar,
and provided training for more than a dozen of his employees
to use it. He believes it to be the first in a Terre Haute
grocery store.
Baesler explained, "While we've never had an incident here
at the store, I hated to think that we would be in that position
and later on wish we had had a defibrillator. I guess it's
a case of better safe than sorry."
Several conditions can cause the heart to beat dangerously
fast and abruptly stop pumping blood to the body (cardiac
arrest). When this happens, an electrical shock to the heart
delivered through a defibrillator can restore its normal rhythm.
At one time, defibrillators were used only by physicians in
a hospital, but recent technological advances have made it
possible for people with only minimal medical training to
use AEDs in an emergency.
If the victim has a pulse, he or she should not receive the
shock. AEDs like the one installed at Baesler's have a microprocessor
that analyzes the victim's heart rhythm through adhesive electrodes,
detecting a pulse even if the operator can't. It advises the
operator whether or not a shock is needed.
"You do have to be trained to use the machine," said Brooke
Cox, one of 13 Baesler's employees currently trained to use
the AED. "There is some risk to the operator and people nearby.
No one can be touching the victim when he shock is delivered.
The machine talks you through the whole process, and warns
you when the shock is about to be delivered and a when the
person's heart rhythm has been restored. It automatically
delivers the shock, but it won't let you give it when it finds
the person has a pulse." Brooke said child-sized paddles are
included to deliver the safe amount of shock if the victim
is a child.
Brooke said the chance to learn CPR was one reason she took
the training, in case she might ever need it for her one-year-old
daughter. For a heart attack victim, CPR can provide some
circulation of oxygen rich-blood to the heart and brain.
The two-day training session was provided by the Center for
Occupational Health. A second session will be scheduled soon
so more Baesler's employees can be trained in the use of the
AED.
For more information contact Bob Baesler at 232-2498.
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