Ensuring frequent fliers. With heart attack the leading cause of death in the United States and defibrillators the only effective way to get the heart beating again, the devices are quickly catching on around the country.
Airports are among the most likely places in which to have a heart attack.
Without defibrillators, all would have died. Harrah's installed a dozen of the devices in its Atlantic City casino a little more than two years ago and immediately started saving lives. In Las Vegas, where defibrillators were installed in casinos more than three years ago, the save rate is more than 50 percent. The save rate for most urban paramedics, including Philadelphia's, is not much better than 5 percent because it takes so long to reach a victim. The defibrillators in the Philadelphia airport are housed on walls in white boxes behind glass doors, with a symbol of a heart and a lightning bolt.