The State - News from April 8, 1988

Expanding the use of controlled electric shocks to revive heart attack victims in California could save 2,600 lives each year, state officials said. California is the first state to allow all firefighters, police officers and lifeguards to use newly developed “automatic defibrillators” to treat heart attack victims before they reach a hospital. The wider use of the procedure is made possible by technological advances in the devices, which deliver electric jolts to people stricken by heart failure. The shock restores electrical activity in the heart, making it possible for the organ to properly pump blood to other parts of the body. “We predict this innovative and exciting concept will save about 2,600 lives each year as it is implemented around the state,” said Dr. Bruce Haynes, director of the state Emergency Medical Services Authority.