A heart-smarter Sonoma?

A new program is under way which could bring push-button help to heart-attack victims in a number of high-traffic Sonoma venues.
“The bad news is that roughly 900 people die every day from cardiac arrest,” Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue Authority Capt. Alan Jones told the Sonoma Disaster Council Thursday afternoon. “The good news is, we’ve been tasked with creating a public-access defibrillator program.”
Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are compact, user-friendly versions of the units in hospital emergency rooms – the main difference being their ease of operation. An onboard computer analyzes the patient’s health and directs users via voice prompts when, or whether, to apply electrical shocks.
The devices are in wide use in such locations as health clubs and other private businesses. Sonoma’s program would put them in City Hall and the Carnegie Library at Sonoma Plaza; the county library on West Napa Street; the Community Meeting Room on First Street West; the Sonoma Community Center and Vintage House.
City Manager Linda Kelly said the city has budgeted $25,000 for the task. A variety of AEDs are currently on the market in a variety of prices, and Jones said the public-access project – which includes user training as well as oversight by an emergency-room physician from Sonoma Valley Hospital – would use Medtronic’s Lifepak 1000. The units cost $1,800 apiece and are compatible with existing technology in use by local fire and emergency medical services.