Firefighters trained to use defibrillators

Warwick - Eighty-four firefighters had been trained in the use of the four Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) donated to the Warwick Fire Department last spring by Philips Semiconductor Co. of Fishkill. “Now we’ve not only been trained to save one of our firefighters from the consequences of a life-threatening heart attack,” said Warwick Fire Chief Frank Corkum, “but we can also come to the aide of a local citizen or a sister or brother from a neighboring fire department.” Corkum discussed the department’s training efforts on Dec. 1. Training Committee Chairman Chris Gardner, past captain of Warwick’s Excelsior Hose Co. and an employee of Philips Semiconductor, represented his company for the occasion. Patricia Brady and Kim Corkum, principal brokers of Regal Homes and Properties, Inc., who donated the four cases that house the defibrillators, were also present. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the leading cause of on the job fatalities among firefighters is heart attack. Defibrillation, which sends an electric current to the malfunctioning heart, is most effective when applied in the first few minutes after sudden cardiac arrest. The lightweight AEDs provide voice instructions and because they are user-friendly, are rapidly becoming standard equipment at police and fire departments as well as schools, athletic fields and other public places. In the Town of Warwick, AEDs also are carried in police and ambulance vehicles.