November 2002
Volume XXVIII, Number 5

	Inside This Issue Defibrillator on Duty Saving Lives in Pittsburgh AEDs: No Experience Required Sudden Cardiac Arrest--Not A Heart Attack New Laws Protect AED Users Motorcycles Equipped With AEDs Overweight Americans Face Serious Health Risks Help For Heart Failure Nuts: Tasty and Heart Healthy Winning Health Recipe of the Month

The Neighborhood Heart Watch (NHW) program is gaining momentum in Indianapolis and other areas of the country. A new NHW chapter in the Indianapolis community of Holcomb Estates features an automated external defibrillator (AED) placed in a secure gatehouse. In case of a cardiac emergency in their neighborhood, residents can quickly access the defibrillator via a keypad installed on the gatehouse door.

Neighbors and community leaders learned about the importance of prompt defibrillation and were given a four-digit access code at their inaugural NHW meeting held in the Children's Better Health Institute Fitness Farm Scholarship Hall.

The gatehouse, which was vacant and unused, is located at the entrance to Holcomb Estates and within a short distance of every home in the neighborhood.

Post editor and inventor Paul SerVaas is designing a secure, insulated box for an AED that could be installed in neighborhoods, apartment complexes, and other residential locations where a defibrillator might be needed. Basic and inexpensive electronic features would ensure that the defibrillator is maintained at the proper temperature and that its battery is charged. He envisions that the aluminum box would be bolted to a concrete pad in much the same way as a large mailbox. Once it is in place, good Samaritans might access the defibrillator with a special key or token.