1976: DEFIBRILLATOR: LIFEPAK 5 WITH DIGITAL RECORDER

In 1976 Physio Control introduced the LifePak 5 with an optional voice/EKG recorder.

Submitted to NEMSM May 2007 by Dan Gilmore (Ohio)

1976: DEFIBRILLATOR: LIFEPAK 5

In 1976, Physio Control Corporation introduced the LifePak 5 Defibrillator at the annual American College of Surgeons convention. The LifePak 5 had improvements over previous models including being the first modular type defibrillator/ECG monitor made by Physio Control.

The original LifePak 5 defibrillator lacked a lead selector switch, which meant a paramedic was required to physically move the wires to the correct electrode positions. Version two of LifePak 5 (pictured) included a lead selector switch.

My father Arthur Kain, 92, is likely to be the longest living survivor of the defibrillator in the Seattle area. On August 22, 1974, then superintendent of Wayne Golf Course, opened the club house as he had near daybreak every morning. That is the last thing he remembers of that day. A short time later, the Bothell fire department responded to the 911 emergency call packing a brand new portable AED that was not yet fully integrated with the hospitals ER system. Al remembers that the AED was a LifePak 5. The doctors called him “wonder man” not knowing how long his heart had stopped or why he had no brain or heart damage. After conducting extensive tests, they diagnosed that his brain and heart electronically disconnected causing him to go into sudden cardiac arrest. Had it not been that a friend tried to beat him to the newspaper, or another friend who happen to be on the 911 call or the bold action of using brand new portable AED, my dad would not have gone on to live another 38 years. Today, he still reads the paper daily, plays golf on Thursday mornings and lives ,my mom, Valerie, who are now celebrating their 69th year of marriage! EDITORS NOTE: Wonderful story-If you have not tried to make contact with the paramedics that used that defibrillator, I would encourage you to make the effort and share the joy of your fathers “second life”. If you recall that the defibrillator was a Lifepak 5, that unit became the mainstay of many of the early paramedic programs. The unit actually was not an AED( automated external defibrillator), but was a manual defibrillator which required the paramedic to recognize Ventricular Fibrillations, and apply the countershock. In 1974, the first true AEDs were just being designed and not in common use. They were rather crude and not as reliable as today’s models. – 1951August (2012)

Heard a story today about an orange defibrillator made by Physio Control that fit around the waist like a carpenters belt. Would love to see a picture of it if possible. Longtime lover and user of the Lifepak 5. Worked for Bo Pounds at Metro Ambulance back in the middle ’70’s and we had some of the first in the country. Thanks, John Fulton (2014)

Submitted to NEMSM Feburary 2008 by Tom Barlett and Dan Gilmore