REMSA TO DONATE AED TO HAWC CLINIC

February 16, 2004 - REMSA (Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority) will donate a Heart Stream Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) to the Health Access Washoe County clinic (HAWC) during a press conference at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 20.
During the presentation of the AED, a REMSA paramedic will be demonstrating how to properly use the life-saving device for HAWC physicians and nurses present during the event.

Charlie Tabano, a REMSA paramedic who will be presenting the AED to HAWC Executive Director, Dr. Mike Rodolico, is responsible for pointing out the need the life-saving equipment at the HAWC clinic.

“After being in the clinic on a number of occasions and seeing the increase in the number of patients the clinic sees on a daily basis, I realized the importance of the HAWC clinic having an AED,” said Tabano, who is also a pharmaceutical representative for Bristol Myers Squibb. “I wrote a request to REMSA management for an AED on behalf of the HAWC clinic, and it was granted.”

HAWC provides free or low cost health care to those families who cannot afford insurance or have no means with which to pay for medical care.

An AED is a medical device that delivers an electric shock to the heart of a patient in cardiac arrest. The shock can help restore a normal heartbeat. This is done to terminate lethal cardiac rhythms and cause the heart to resume normal pumping activity.
The presentation will be made at a Press Conference to be held at eh HAWC Clinic on Friday, February 20 2004 at 10:30 a.m. The Clinic is located at 1055 S. Wells Ave in Reno.

The HAWC clinic has not had the luxury of having an AED available to their physicians and patients. By donating an AED, REMSA will enable HAWC employees to react to patients’ life-threatening needs in a timely manner.

“We have been looking forward to this donation for a long time,” said Rodolico. “REMSA’s donation will make a difference in the way we are able to treat patient emergencies. We have had patients collapse at our clinics and have had to call 911 in order to get an AED on the scene. Although REMSA responded immediately, this will give physicians a life saving tool right here in the clinic that we previously have not had.”
Every day in America, more than 1,000 people suffer a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) where the heart’s rhythm suddenly becomes chaotic and the heart stops abruptly. Victims lose consciousness, with death quickly following unless a normal heart rhythm is restored in less than five minutes.

Throughout the Truckee Meadows, REMSA responds to more than 500 sudden cardiac arrests each year; that’s more than one person in our community every day.

REMSA has been working to place life saving AED devices throughout the community to help shorten the time it takes to restore a regular heartbeat. The AED can be used by laypersons and medical professionals alike to deliver a shock to the patient, restoring normal heart rhythm.

REMSA is a private, not-for-profit emergency medical services system serving northern Nevada. REMSA’s state-of-the-art 9-1-1 dispatch communications center is fully accredited, as are all emergency medical transport services of the company. REMSA provides quality patient care with no taxpayer support or other subsidies.

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