A recent article in the KW Record proudly showed off a brand new device that will hopefully start showing up in every ambulance in the near future. The device in question is a small machine called an “impedance threshold device”, it resembles a door knob, and will cost approximately $75. The device is used in conjunction with CPR when a person has a heart attack, to improve blood flow to the heart. The device has been undergoing clinical testing over the last two years, with Waterloo Region paramedics among eight Ontario ambulance services in the study.
With the clinical trial now finished results are looking extremely positive – in some areas the chance of survival of an out of hospital cardiac arrest was increased from 8% to as high as 23%. This amazing improvement will hopefully prove the effectiveness of the device and get it out there saving lives as soon as possible.
Unfortunately some lives may have been lost in pursuit of the proof needed to implement the device. The study was conducted as a ‘blind test’ with half the ambulances having real devices and half having fake devices. This is where the question comes in, how many people died who could have been saved had the paramedics been given a real device?
I personally was shocked when I read the article, thinking of all the families who will now be wracked by the thought that their loved one could still be alive. Couldn’t the study have been implemented across the entire fleet of ambulances, with results compared to historical data rather than splitting the response type? The standard blind test used in drug testing involves the patients signing a waiver, they acknowledge the chance that they could not receive the new miracle drug that could save their lives. They participate because there is a chance it could help them. In the case of a person suffering from a heart attack before being treated by paramedics, where is the waiver, where is the consent? Every person has the right to life saving treatment, that is why we Canadians pride ourselves on our health care system.
In this case it appears that science has taken precedence over human life, a terrible thing could be prevented if your flip of the coin is favourable. Do you get the new live saving treatment, or not, who knows? I just hope the clinical reviews and legal battles are quickly resolved so that these life saving devices can begin to help everyone, in every corner of the world.
Region Plays God For Science!
Note: This article is hosted here for archival purposes only. It does not necessarily represent the values of the Iron Warrior or Waterloo Engineering Society in the present day.
A recent article in the KW Record proudly showed off a brand new device that will hopefully start showing up in every ambulance in the near future. The device in question is a small machine called an “impedance threshold device”, it resembles a door knob, and will cost approximately $75. The device is used in conjunction with CPR when a person has a heart attack, to improve blood flow to the heart. The device has been undergoing clinical testing over the last two years, with Waterloo Region paramedics among eight Ontario ambulance services in the study.
With the clinical trial now finished results are looking extremely positive – in some areas the chance of survival of an out of hospital cardiac arrest was increased from 8% to as high as 23%. This amazing improvement will hopefully prove the effectiveness of the device and get it out there saving lives as soon as possible.
Unfortunately some lives may have been lost in pursuit of the proof needed to implement the device. The study was conducted as a ‘blind test’ with half the ambulances having real devices and half having fake devices. This is where the question comes in, how many people died who could have been saved had the paramedics been given a real device?
I personally was shocked when I read the article, thinking of all the families who will now be wracked by the thought that their loved one could still be alive. Couldn’t the study have been implemented across the entire fleet of ambulances, with results compared to historical data rather than splitting the response type? The standard blind test used in drug testing involves the patients signing a waiver, they acknowledge the chance that they could not receive the new miracle drug that could save their lives. They participate because there is a chance it could help them. In the case of a person suffering from a heart attack before being treated by paramedics, where is the waiver, where is the consent? Every person has the right to life saving treatment, that is why we Canadians pride ourselves on our health care system.
In this case it appears that science has taken precedence over human life, a terrible thing could be prevented if your flip of the coin is favourable. Do you get the new live saving treatment, or not, who knows? I just hope the clinical reviews and legal battles are quickly resolved so that these life saving devices can begin to help everyone, in every corner of the world.
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