Philips Semiconductor donates defibrillators to Warwick FD

WARWICK-Philips Semiconductor has donated four HeartStart OnSite Automatic Electronic Defibrillators (AEDs) to the Warwick Fire Department. The equipment was given to the volunteers at a ceremony held at the company's facility in Fishkill on June 14. Warwick Fire Chief Frank Corkum Jr. was on hand to thank the Vice President and General Manager of Philips Semiconductors-Fishkill, Wendy Arienzo, and to present a plaque expressing the gratitude of the Warwick Fire Department. Representing the Warwick Fire Department at the ceremony were Corkum, Department President Jeff Schadt, Training Committee Chairman Chris Gardner, and Frank Fotino, chairman of the Warwick Fire District Board of Commissioners. Arienzo and Bob Carelli, manager of Environmental, Health, Safety and Security at Philips Semiconductors-Fishkill made the presentation. Defibrillation, the delivery of an electrical current to the heart, provides the only effective treatment for ventricular fibrillation, a life threatening malfunction of the heart; however, defibrillation is most effective if received in the first few minutes after sudden cardiac arrest occurs. The HeartStart OnSite Defibrillators offer ease-of-use for the lay person, a growing class of responders found in communities, schools and businesses. These particular defibrillators feature patented technologies and design refinements including calm natural voice instructions, SMART pads cartridges, Adult/Child CPR coaching, automated daily self-tests and they weigh a mere 3.3 pounds each. In its Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) stated, "the leading nature of fatal injuries to firefighters is heart attack (44 percent)." This statistic was the driving force behind a campaign by the Warwick Fire Department to equip its primary fire apparatus with Automated External Defibrillators. Information for this dispatch was provided by Thom Cronin, secretary, Warwick Fire Department.