I came across a poem today, on the Internet, entitled “Nurses Must Be Angels by Profession. It’s a short, sappy bit of nonsense, and really grated on my nerves. This bizarre connection between angels and nurses is just one of those things that has entrenched itself into the nursing profession, and doesn’t show any signs of letting up. Like a blood sucking parasite, I would say, for it surely doesn’t evoke a positive image of nurses, or a realistic one. Nurse leaders and advocates are always whining about how the media downplays nurses, show unrealistic portrayals of them, yadda yadda, but yet, they are amazingly tight lipped when it comes to confronting this angel thing.

In fact, the opposite is often true. Many of the nursing leaders, those with quadruple PhDs following their name, dive right into the angel mythology, and speak of nursing as though each and every one of us was blessed with invisible wings, and able to flutter back and forth to heaven, meet face to face with God, and get to nap on cloud 9. They act as though nursing exists on some higher plane, elevated above the rest of all those lowly earth-bound jobs, and perpetuate the feeble notion that nursing is a noble profession where one must sacrifice herself for the good of others.

Each and everyone of them deserve to have their wings clipped. It is this very myth, this very perception that nursing is somehow a calling, a job that is somehow more connected to heaven than others—it is this nurse mythology that has helped keep nurses at the bottom of the barrel for so long. And rest assured, the angel image often equated with nurses is not one of empowerment or strength. Hold your breath if you’re waiting to see the Archangel Michael or Gabriel rise up and don a white cap. We should only be so lucky, but nurse angel images are not about empowering oneself, or being strong and bold. Instead, nurses get the stereotype cherub, something along the lines of an angel that only Disney could create. Tinkerbelle, perhaps. She’s a fairy but hey, both have wings and belong to the supernatural, so who can really tell the difference. Tinkerbelle is the quintessential nurse angel—small, fragile, weak, and powerless.

It is ironic that it is often nurses themselves that perpetuate this image. Nurse writers often pen these sickeningly sweet tales about the nobility of nursing, how nurses involves the sacrifice of oneself, how nursing requires compassion, and indeed, is a profession reserved for the few, the proud (sort of like the Marines). The image of the nurse/angel continues to proliferate on television, movies, books, websites. In fact, a book was published a few years ago called We Band of Angels, about the American nurses trapped on Baatan when the Japanese invaded. How insulting can you get, and what a disservice to those brave women. How about calling the book, We Band of Warriors, for example, or We Band of Soldiers?

Why is it that out of all the professions, only nurses are burdened with this angel idiocy? Do you ever hear about men being called angels? What about the Doctors without Borders, who volunteer to work in war torn areas, in developing nations, among the poorest of the poor? How about Peace Corp workers? What about the volunteers who work for Habitat for Humanity? And how about everyone else who contributes to the care of a hospital patient; the lab techs, the physical therapists, the speech therapists, the residents, the aides, and all of the assorted technicians? Does anyone ever refer to any of these people that I’ve just mentioned as angels of mercy? Do they get stamped with the Tinkerbelle image?

Of course, what I just wrote will undoubtedly ignite the wrath of many nurses, those who’ve been spoon fed the image of sacrificial angel and may actually believe it. I guess thinking that you’re an angel and part of a noble profession makes being overworked and underpaid easier to digest. Believing in a myth is far more simple than standing up for oneself and trying to improve your working conditions.

So how did nurses evolve from human to apparition. Stay tuned for the next installment.

Images: Courtesy of Stock.XCHNG

Well, Eponine’s paw appears to be back to normal and completely healed. The crisis of the ingrown nail is over. Here’s her paw, good as new. I didn’t give her the full 7 days of her antibiotic. I know, bad mommy. But she hated taking it, and I genuinely forgot. And of course, she didn’t remind me.

This is a short continuation of my post from yesterday. The term “angels” has been used to describe nurses to the point of nausea. It really makes me want to gag, and entwining nurses (who are human, afterall) and fluttering apparitions only serves to reinforce the Florence Nightingale image of white capped martyrs who are able to serve without the need for a decent paycheck, sleep, respect, safe working conditions, or a life beyond the confines of the hospital.

Anyway, it is ironic that a miniseries with the word “angel” boldly emblazoned in the title, would have such a positive and refreshing–and definitely non-angelic-like portrayal of nurses. I found an interesting write-up about the nurses of Angels of America at the Nursing Advocacy website. They wrote up an excellent review, although true to the reviews on this site, the reviewer has to mention that Belize’s threat to make IV insertion painful (after just enduring a barrage of racial slurs) is not something that’s part of the nursing curriculum. Come on, Belize is human and he told Roy Cohn that to shut his face up. And it worked.

Anyway, I’m not particularly fond of most of the movie/television reviews on this site, because I find them way too nit-picky. They often seem to have no comprehension of the time period that a movie/TV show takes place in, or when a particular movie was filmed–they just want the nurse to be portrayed as they see fit–the flawless concept of the 2004 nurse. But for the most part, their review of Angels in America is very well done, even with the unneeded comments about nursing school curriculums; like anyone who watched this is going to be wondering about that–gee, is that what they teach nurses in school? To threaten patients with an IV? Sometimes you really do need to just back off and give it a rest.

I just finished watching this marvelous 6 hour miniseries on DVD, and I have to give HBO a round of applause. Make that an encore. This had to be one of the most refreshing, honest, realistic (and magical at the same time), and noteworthy productions that I have ever seen. All I can say is, thank God that a network TV station didn’t decide to take on this project. I can’t imagine the censored and stifled mess that would have resulted. HBO remained extremely faithful to playwright Tony Kushner’s original masterpiece–nudity, intimacy between gay men, the stark horror of the early AIDS epidemic and the Reagan administration’s total impotence in dealing with it, and its overall fascinating tapestry of human life in the big city circa 1985.

But as there are many reviews of the miniseries and of the original play, and since it recently won 11 Emmy awards it will no doubt take its place in television history, I’m not going to go into the details of the story. Rather, I just wanted to comment on one slice of it.

Nurses.

Yes, there are nurses in Angels in America. One has a small role, played by Emma Thompson (who also portrays a rather volatile angel and a homeless woman), and the other is a leading role played by Jeffrey Wright. Judging from her actions and responsibilities, I am assuming that Thompson’s nurse is actually a nurse practitioner, since she appears to have the power to admit a patient to the hospital. But she is sympathetic without being sickeningly sweet, does her job efficiently, and appears to care for her patients–without a shred of the martyrish attitude so often attributed to nurses. In short, she is a highly competent healthcare professional, and a very postitive character.

Wright’s nurse is more complex, as his role stretches beyond the confines of the hospital. His character is gay, but yet, never takes him into the stereotype of gay male nurse. Like Thompson, he is caring but not a martyr, he is strong and competent but sympathetic, does his job to the best of his ability. Wright also shows us that he doesn’t take crap from either high and mighty doctors or abusive patients, and stands up to them while retaining his own high standards and dignity. And beyond his role of nurse, Wright’s character of Belize is one of the most compelling and likeable in the story.

These are two of the most positive images of nurses that I’ve ever seen portrayed in the popular media. Of course, working conditions are quite different two decades later, and have taken a dive for the worse. But still, I was exceedingly impressed when I watched this miniseries, of how nurses were portrayed in a positive light, while still being extremely realistic.

If you didn’t get to see Angels in America when it showed on HBO, I strongly recommend renting the DVD. Especially if you happen to be a nurse.

This is my new editor, Pixie. Isn’t she photogenic?

Did you know that in his 1945 State of the Union address, President Franklin Roosevelt called for a draft of female nurses? World War II was the first time that a real shortage of nurses occurred, and the bill passed both the House and Senate. The only reason that nurses escaped the draft was because the war in Europe ended a few months later.

It comes as no surprise to me that once again, we appear to be in the midst of yet another nursing shortage. Since around 1999, reports have been filtering in about a growing crisis in healthcare, namely, a continuing and escalating lack of qualified personnel. The media has been regularly reporting on the growing nursing shortage, highlighting the coming apocalypse if nothing is done to change the course of events. It reminds me of a line in the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, when the ghost of Christmas Present tells Scrooge the fate of Tiny Tim; that… “If these shadows remain unaltered by the future, none other of my race will find him here.”

And so it will be for nursing. A nursing shortage of epic proportions has descended upon us, the media reports, much like the Biblical plagues which struck the heretics. The shortage has been slowly building steam for over a decade and is now striking with a vengeance. If the present situation continues unaltered, if the right steps aren’t taken immediately to curtail the crisis, we will be facing one of the greatest disasters in the history of modern healthcare.

In my earlier posts, I’ve mentioned that I was an escapee from the healthcare system, and that is exactly how I feel. I escaped from working in the nursing profession. There are no tears, no regrets, just simple relief and everlasting gratitude that I no longer have to put up with all that goes with being a nurse. I sometimes hesitate to mention my former career to people because then I usually have to brace myself for the deluge: But nursing is such a noble profession…we need nurses so badly…there’s a real nursing shortage going on, do you realize that?

Please, spare me the melodrama. There isn’t anything on the face of this earth that can could ever entice back to nursing, and especially, working in a hospital. When asked if I miss nursing, my standard response is usually, “Does a cancer patient who’s in remission miss their chemotherapy?”

I know, my attitude is a little jaded, but I can’t stand the hype and the theatrics now surrounding the so-called nursing shortage. Contrary to the mode in which news is often presented, nurses did not disappear overnight, nor is this the first time that there has ever been a nursing shortage. Sometimes the blame is laid on the massive lay-offs which occurred in the mid-1990s, when nurses were laid off in an effort to cut health care costs and maximize profits. But this highly detrimental move can be compared to pouring gasoline on an already raging fire. It certainly helped set the stage for what is being experienced now, but certainly was not the only underlying cause. Rather, nursing staff has been waxing and waning for the past 50 years. The shortage is comparable to a chronic illness which periodically exacerbates into an acute phase requiring emergency care. But whenever nursing has screamed out for life support, it’s always been denied. Instead of sending a trauma team, hospitals gather up a few Band-aids and a little bit of TLC. As a result, nursing shortages would merely revert back to their chronic phase, never healing and never reaching a stage of full recovery.

How’s this for some hot statistics? According to a survey conducted by the American Nurses Association, 55% of the RNs and LPNs who responded would not recommend the nursing profession as a career for their children or friends, while 23% said that they would actively discourage someone close to them from choosing nursing as a career. In another study, nearly half of the RNs surveyed said that if they were younger and just starting out, they would not choose nursing as a career.

Here’s an even better one: Right at this moment, there are well over 500,000 individuals licensed as registered nurses who are not working in healthcare. Half a million strong. True, some are retired, but over half are under the age of 60. That’s a lot of nurses out there who don’t want anything to do with nursing. Perhaps instead of calling it a nursing shortage, a more apt name would be a shortage of decent places to work.

Images: Courtesy of The Charles Dickens Page and the National Library of Medicine

Some things never change. Nursing shortage then, nursing shortage now. Being a bonafide escapee-at-large from the healthcare system, the nursing shortage–or should I say–the so-called nursing shortage that has enticed the media is one of my cause célèbres. But not in the way you may have imagined.

Stay tuned….

Image: Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine

More on the iron lung (scroll down to see earlier stories). I’ve been meaning to post them and so here they are–links to other stories which have appeared about the iron lung users.

This story appeared on the sandiegochannel.com and there is also a video on the website Company Pulls Plug On Iron Lung

Another story appeared on the International Ventilator Users Network Respironics Colorado Announces Discontinuation of Service and Repair Support for Certain Ventilation Equipment

Finally, a third story can be found on a post-polio group’s website Iron Lung Users Face Crisis: Loss of Parts and Maintainence

The right to breathe. And thanks to some great people out there, it looks like the “iron lungers” may get to keep their machines, get them serviced, get parts replaced–and be able to continue to keep breathing.

My article, plus a few other stories which have appeared on local TV news stations, plus the possible interest of the big O herself–Oprah–has generated interested in this largely invisible population.

Stay tuned for updates. Things are looking good, and taking a great turn for the better.

They won. The litter has been changed. Fancy crystals are out, clumping clay back in. Of course, Eponine has to pay a price for her victory. Now she gets to have her paw wiped after each run to the litter box. I can’t believe that she’s been holding it in for almost 24 hours.

Cosette has also emerged from hiding. Ah, that sweet aroma of clumping clay litter. Doesn’t she look smug!

Uh, how many bureaucrats does it take to screw in a light bulb? How many bureaucrats does it take to do add up 2+2=4? Well, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration just doesn’t get it. Or they don’t want to. So the outcome is that Americans all over the country are just ignoring them.

Drugs.

Cheaper drugs.

The kind you get from Canada. At a fraction of the price that they are sold here. A handful of local governments and nearly 2 million U.S. consumers are openly defying federal law, and buying drugs from Canada. And now the Montgomery County (Maryland) Council, deep in the heart of FDA country, voted yesterday to begin buying medications in Canada.

Here’s the link from the Washington Post about it: Council in FDA’s Home County Votes to Defy Law and Buy From Canada

As this article states, the FDA cites safety as its main concern. Of course, one only has to look around and notice that Canadians are not dying in droves from tainted unsafe drugs. Canada is a first world country, with standards equal to, if not better than, our own. And Canadians have a longer lifespan. So hmm, where are all the dead Canadians?

And in many cases, drugs sold in Canada are produced in the United States under the supervision of the FDA and then sold at lower prices in Canada. Unlike the U.S., government regulations restrict price gouging of essential medicines. But the FDA officials say they cannot guarantee the safety of substances one they have left the tightly regulated U.S. pharmaceutical industry.

It seems that they just don’t get it. People are going to buy Canadian drugs because they are cheaper. In fact, they will buy drugs over the Internet, head down to Tijuana to purchase drugs over the counter at a tiny fraction of their cost here, and so on. Until health insurance universally pays for all drugs, and at an affordable price, until Medicare/Medicaid pays for all drugs in and out of the hospital, and until uninsured and underinsured Americans can purchase the drugs they need at a reasonable price, this practice is going to continue. With or without the blessing of the FDA.

So instead of screaming and kicking, maybe the FDA should be taking a look into the price gouging that is rampant in our country, take a look at all the ploys that drug companies are using to extend the life of their patents (thus keeping the cheaper generics off the market), put an end to the behind-the-scenes-deals that big Pharma makes with generic companies to keep the prices of generics high–and then maybe buying drugs overseas will no longer be an issue.

Images: Courtesy of creatingonline.com

The little Nish is fine, no worse off for her traumatic experience yesterday. However, she is still screaming at the litter box, and I can’t tell if she’s used it or not. The pee-pee evaporates immediately, so there’s no tell-tale signs. And no sign of the stuff which comes out of the other end.

Cosette is less skittish, but still acting weird. I don’t think she’s used the new litter either. All of this commotion over one simple ingrown nail. And all because the Nish is a spitfire, and absolutely refuses to sit still and allow her nails to be clipped.

Today seems like a good day to take my laptop out to a cafe, and not return home until things are back to normal. How can two tiny little furfaces wield so much power in a household??????

Who cares about polio and iron lungs, and deadly germs. Today was a major cat-astrophe–my sweet, beloved, totally crazed and spoiled beyond comprehension cat Eponine had to go to the vet. Diagnosis? An ingrown toenail.

I really couldn’t believe it. How does an active little spitfire, who is always sharpening her feet, get an ingrown nail? True, it is near impossible to clip her nails, but still. The vet agreed. She never sees ingrown nails, except on very old and/or sick cats, that don’t move around much.

So the plot thickens. The “sick toe” set me back $91.83. Next, because it’s an open wound, she needs special litter–anything but the normal clay kind. The vet recommended these silica crystals, which are quite popular and are supposed to absorb odors, don’t need to be changed very often (except to scoop the poop out), and scatter less. So two bags of crystals (actually, I think they’re gold plated), at a total of $20.00.

Now the plot really thickens. Eponine (better known as the Nish) comes home smelling like the vet’s office. My other cat, Cosette (yes, they are named after the characters in Les Miserables) is freaked out and goes hiding under the kitchen sink. Six hours later, she is still there, having made a brief appearance to eat her dinner. Eponine seems fine, paw-wise, but refuses to use her fancy new litter. She is walking around screaming, going over to the litter box, screaming a little more. She’s got to go, but won’t use it.

I’m taking two valium and going to bed.

To continue my story about the iron lung…

The majority of individuals still using the iron lung are polio survivors. Most, if not all, contracted polio in early childhood, during the late 1940s and early 1950s, when the virus was at its heyday.

They’ve been dependent on the iron lung ever since. So you can imagine how terrifying it must be, to be suddenly told that there will no longer be anyone available to fix your machine. That if you need a new part, well, too bad. If your iron lung is making weird sounds, well, live with it.

In all fairness, Respironics will exchange the iron lung for a newer ventilator, and there are a number of devices available. Most ventilators work on the system of positive pressure. These are the ones you see in hospitals, and the ones that the majority of ventilator-dependent people use in the home setting. Unfortunately, positive pressure ventilators are invasive, meaning that you connect to them via a tube down your throat or by a trach. Some of the newest models now offer a connection by mouthpiece, which eliminates the need for undergoing a tracheostomy (hole in the throat).

But the positive pressure ventilators have not worked for many of the polio survivors. Their lungs do not fill up sufficiently, and it is difficult to breathe. And so, they have returned to the tried and true iron lung, which works on the system of negative pressure. Respironics does have a modern update of the iron lung called the Porta-lung, a lighter fiberglass version of the old model. It works on the same principle, and some iron lung users have been able to transition over to it.

However, others can not. Whether the inability to do so is psychological (scary to make a change after all these years, especially if the old system has served you well), physical, or a combination of the two, for this group of individuals who cannot make a switch—their future is very uncertain. What to do if your iron lung stops working? How do you breathe?

Imagine having your breath taken away. Imagine someone telling you that your lungs can no longer be “serviced,” if something goes wrong with them. Well, tough luck, baby.

The letter from Respironics was short, not-so-sweet, and to the point. The company stated that it, “will no longer be able to procure service parts to support or repair” iron lungs.

Did I say iron lung? Are those things still around? Are there really people still living inside huge, monstrous coffin-like structures?

For people growing up in the 1940s and 50s, the specter of getting polio and being trapped in an iron lung was a nightmarish vision, even worse than nuclear war. But as frightening as the device appeared to be, the iron lung was responsible for saving the lives of tens of thousands of polio victims. The device was used to ventilate victims of respiratory paralysis, a common symptom of polio, who otherwise would have died.

Most Americans, including healthcare workers, believe that the iron lung is something that has been relegated to antiquated black and white photographs of hospital polio wards, and is now a footnote is the archives of medical history. But in the U.S. alone, there are about 40 polio survivors who still depend on iron lungs to stay alive. The modern respirators which replaced the iron lung don’t work as well, and attempts to switch have been largely unsuccessful. The iron lung is truly different from other ventilators, say patients, as it works on a negative pressure system that literally takes over the patient’s breathing. Other ventilators work on a positive pressure system that makes it more difficult for polio patients to fill their lungs and keep enough oxygen streaming through their bodies.

But now this small handful of physically frail individuals may have no choice. Each of these polio survivors received the same letter from Respironics, the company responsible for maintaining and servicing their iron lungs, and are now wondering what to do. The letter goes on to recommend that these patients contact their physician to determine what equipment would be “appropriate replacement.” Dr. Richard Bruno, of the International Post Polio Task Force, believes that Respironics’ decision to pull the plug on iron lung patients is symptomatic of a bigger problem, in that polio survivors have largely been forgotten–including the polio survivors who are now suffering from post-polio syndrome.

So who are the people still living on an iron lung? What are their options? Does the government have an obligation to take over when a private company bows out? While unusual in one way, this story correlates to other healthcare dilemmas that older Americans face.

When I first learned about this story, I was rather intrigued. Despite having worked in healthcare (I’m an escapee at large) I really had no idea that iron lungs were still in use. And the idea that a large corporation, such as Respironics, could no longer afford to maintain 40 machines seemed, well, a bit cruel. I decided that it would make a good story, and so did AARP. My article about the undecided fate of iron lung users appears in the September 2004 issue of the AARP Bulletin.

AARP Iron Lung Article: On Borrowed Time

I wash my liver every day, my heart about twice a week, and I throw my brain in with the colored laundry about once a month.

I have to give credit where credit is due; the title of this post came from
Dr. Mercola’s website, where he is promoting a product called the Clenzology™ Advanced Hygiene System. It is designed to go where no soap has ever gone before, in the pursuit to rid your body of evil germs and microbes. Do you really have any idea what lurks in those clandestine crevices of your body, hidden from the naked eye?

Take your nose, for example. Any idea what’s living inside?

I’d say it looks something like this:

Okay, now that I’ve made relentless fun of Clenzology, it actually does sound quite interesting. Dr. Mercola’s website is full of information that the medical establishment, and especially, the pharmaceutical companies, don’t like hearing about. But not to get into that right now…

According to Dr. Mercola, allergies are not caused by pollen, dust, cockroaches, sweet potatoes, and whatever else may make you sneeze or gag, but by a malfunctioning immune system. The above items are really just triggers, which set off the allergic response, but they do not cause it.

Our immune systems become weakened from many things, one of which is the constant autoinoculation (how’s that for a fancy word) of germs from one part of the body to another. This is primarily accomplished by sticking your dirty fingers into your nose, mouth and eyes, and allowing germs to enter your body–germs which don’t belong there. This constant contamination of the nose and eyes by your fingers leads to an overloaded immune system and most of the infections of the upper respiratory tract.

Anyway, it’s an interesting article, whether or not you feel like buying the Clenzology System. If anything, it may make you more conscious of where your fingertips are at any given time of the day or night. And make you think twice before you buy another highly touted bar of antibacterial soap.

Pictures: Courtesy of Freeimages.co.uk

Cosette extends an invitation to all, to join her for toast and coffee, on this rainy Saturday morning (rainy in Seattle, anyway). She normally prefers fresh baked croissants from the organic French bakery in Belltown, but alas, no sucker was willing to brave the rain this morning to go and buy them. So Cosette, spoiled as she is, has to settle for a slice of Ezekial Sprouted Grain bread with almond butter.

In my earlier tirade about the somewhat dubious act of making defibrillators as available as Lunden’s Cough Drops (with a slightly heftier price tag), I forgot to mention the simple act of learning CPR. And how to correctly do the Hemilich maneuver.

Parents, especially, should know what to do if their child is choking. Tiny tots have an insane affinity for sticking non-edibles into their mouth. Coins, buttons, batteries, diamond earrings–all of it’s fair game, as far as a toddler’s concerned. Food can also be dangerous. Peanuts, grapes, hard candies, hot dogs–all of these can lodge in a small throat. Thousands of children end up in the ER every year, for choking accidents.

It’s not difficult to find classes for CPR and the Hemilich, unless you really are living in a remote place (like somewhere between the moon and New York City). Both the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association offer classes, and there is a subtle but friendly one-upmanship between them. Something to the effect of, “my CPR dummy is better than your dummy,” or “our technique is the best,” even though CPR techniques, and Heimlich techniques, are identical. The AHA tends to be a little more full of itself, because, afterall, they are the American Heart Association (are you impressed yet?) Truth be known, for the lay person looking to learn how to try to revive a failed heart, or how to dislodge a peach pit from their six year old’s throat, it makes absolutely no difference which “method” you use. Just check out local hospitals, community centers, adult education, community colleges, the local YMCA, etc. Someone is bound to be offering a class.

American Heart Association CPR page

Red Cross CPR Instructions

[Photo courtesy of GeekPhilosopher.com]

Beginning right now, you too, can become the proud owner of a brand new baby defribrillator. Add that to your twin SUVs, Prada shoes, and the nanny you just hired to make sure Princess Fido doesn’t get lonely during the day. The FDA has just declared that this miraculous electrical device can be purchased over the counter, same as Tylenol and Robitussin.

Over the counter defibrillator

Okay, maybe I’m being overly sarcastic. A defrillator, correctly used and most importantly, used under the right circumstances, can save lives. Despite what you see on ER, most sudden cardiac arrests, ie, heart attack victims, do not survive. An ambulance typically arrives within nine minutes of a 911 call, but 10 minutes after heart attacks hits, a person has about a 1% chance of surviving (despite what you see on ER, where 99% of people survive, even if rigor mortis has already set it).

Having a defrillator at home, in theory, can boost survival chances by quite a bit. But the problem herein, lies in being able to use it correctly. And under the right circumstances. While having it available by prescription only was no guarantee of safe and correct usage, I’m assuming that to get a prescription for it, one would have to have at least, spoken with a doctor. Or a nurse. Or a technician. Someone who might have showed them how to place the paddles, how to check for a pulse, and when to push the lever to zap that heart back into pumping blood.

Home ventilators first came into use two years ago. And according to the MSN article, which I’ve linked up to this page, about 6,000 have been sold. Without the burden of a prescription, they are looking forward to sales of about 20,000 a year.

My main concern is who, if anyone, is going to instruct people on how to use them. Or on your basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), where you learn rescue breathing, checking for a pulse, and the right time to either do chest compressions or defibrillate. Getting your heart defibbed is quite dangerous if it hasn’t stopped beating. Not a good thing to do if grandma has only fainted, and only appears to be in need of a zap or two.

Anyway, it would be interesting to see data, if any exists, how home defibrillators have fared over the past two years. Have they saved anyone’s life? Killed anyone? Sat around and collected dust? Any teens out there who thought that it might be a real cool thing to try out just for kicks?