# Autopulse under fire



## Jon (Jul 23, 2005)

Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times
All Rights Reserved 

Los Angeles Times 

July 22, 2005 Friday 
Home Edition  

CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 1  

746 words 


Riverside County Halts Use of CPR Machine; 
A man pulled from a Palm Springs pool was treated with the device but later died. 

Stephanie Ramos and Lance Pugmire, Times Staff Writers 


Riverside County health officials have suspended use of a federally approved CPR machine after a man who was treated with the device suffered cracked ribs and internal injuries and later died, authorities said.

Paramedics from the Palm Springs Fire Department used the "AutoPulse" cardiac support pump to resuscitate Fang Joon Yun, 77, after he was pulled from a swimming pool July 14. After Yun was revived, he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Riverside County sheriff's officials said.

A Riverside County medical examiner found that "something was not right" while performing Yun's preliminary autopsy, said Sheriff Bob Doyle, who oversees the county coroner's office. 

"We put the device back on the individual, and it lined up exactly with where the broken ribs and other injuries he had suffered," Doyle said, stressing that Yun's cause of death had yet to be determined.

Six hundred AutoPulse devices are being used by rescue providers in San Francisco, Fremont, Calif., and other cities throughout the country, although it is not in use in Los Angeles or Orange counties, company officials said.

Because of the medical examiner's findings, the Riverside County Emergency Medical Services Agency suspended use of the device in the county until Yun's case could be further investigated. Michael Osur, director of the agency, said he had alerted emergency agencies using the device throughout the state.

"We don't know if that particular machine was defective or if the design itself is faulty, but until we can figure out how [Yun's injuries occurred], it is not to be used," Osur said.

Bob Katz, chief operating officer of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Revivant Corp., manufacturer of AutoPulse, said he was told that the device had been cleared in Yun's death. Revivant is a subsidiary of Zoll Medical Corp. of Massachusetts.

"We've been told from the coroner's office that the AutoPulse really isn't in any way related to the drowning," said Katz. "The coroner has reported that the cause of death was asphyxiation, as secondary to drowning. Palm Springs Fire [said] that it was clear to everyone." 

From Firehouse.com, rest HERE: Clicky


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## Jon (Jul 23, 2005)

Wow.... big claims here.... I hope that they don't find the device at fault....


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## TTLWHKR (Jul 23, 2005)

Wow, someone died after being in cardiac arrest, and CPR failed? That is horrible. Gee whiz, good thing that doesn't happen every day!

And CPR can cause broken ribs, OMG. Holy crap, if we only knew that before!


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