ninme

Instapundit:

QUESTION: Could a defibrillator have saved Tim Russert? “NBC News has declined to comment on whether an automated external defibrillator, or A.E.D., was nearby at the time of Mr. Russert’s collapse or why a defibrillator wasn’t immediately used.” Huh. Why keep mum?

And this is clearly right: “One of the many lessons from Mr. Russert’s death is that everybody should find out whether their building has a portable defibrillator and where it is located, and then learn how to use it.” And public buildings should routinely be equipped with these. They’re not very expensive.

More background in this post, including a report on a kid who was saved by an AED.

Well I don’t care much about Tim Russert (I don’t, in other words, have a need to turn every national tragedy into a national witch-hunt, and last I heard his cholesterol had ruptured an artery which isn’t I don’t think something that a defibrillator would be much help with), I happen to know for a fact that there wasn’t a defibrillator in the Lake Louise ski lodge as of January 3rd this year, as I prepare to fly back to Canada to see everyone for the first time since the funeral on the 18th January. And yeah, they’re cheap.