Tag Archives: Innovation

Automated External Defibrillator

LIVE LIFE SAVE LIFE – AED

BASIC LIFE SUPPORT, CARDIAC ARREST, CPR, Defibrillator, Innovation, Life Saving Education, Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

Thanks to all the readers who have appreciated my last blog, Live Life Save Life where the characters Maggie and Jaggy discussed what to do in a Cardiac Arrest. The feed back received has only spurred me to continue to write better as it has increased the expectations of the readers. In this blog too Maggie and Jaggy will discuss more on Saving lives. Let us follow the conversation.

Maggie: “Hello Jaggy. You are looking great and in good health”.

Jaggy: “Yes, Maggie all is well with me looking forward to live life save life”.

Maggie: “Thank you for the conversation where you had explained the difference between Heart Attack and Cardiac Arrest and the first aid to be done”. 

Jaggy: “Teaching skills that saves life is always a pleasure”.

Maggie: “Last time you had explained 2 steps of the Chain of Survival and particularly CPR. Can you explain more on the 3rd step the defibrillation”?

Jaggy: “Sure Maggie. In CPR by we are only circulating oxygenated blood to the brain and thereby we can save life, but every time CPR alone cannot do the job. The heart is to be jolted with a bit of electric current to get back to its normal rhythm”.

Maggie: “You mean we need to give an Electric shock? Can a first aider do that”!

Jaggy: “This is not something new Maggie. This technique has been around for a long time. Doctors and health care workers use it every day to save lives”.

Maggie: “Doctors always save lives, but can you explain more clearly”?

Jaggy: “In many a movie we have seen doctors performing a surgery on someone. Suddenly you see the monitor go erratic and the doctor shouts Cardiac Arrest!!! Immediately the doctor is handed over two small square shaped boxes to which gel is applied and the doctor uses them on the chest of the patient. Miraculously the person is revived”.

Maggie: “I have seen that, but movies are movies. Never real”.

Jaggy: “I know but not everything in a movie is fantasy. The doctor in the movie uses a device called a Defibrillator.  Defibrillator is a device which jolts the heart into a normal rhythm. The doctors use a Manual Defibrillator wherein they decide the amount of shock to be given. First aider is not a doctor. So, they use an AED. Automated External Defibrillator”.

Maggie: “Wow! Interesting. Love to know more”.

Jaggy: “An AED is in fact very simple to use. All one needs to do is just switch it on. Once switched on the AED by using voice prompts guides the first aider on how to use it”.

Maggie: “Sounds nice but can you be more specific on how to operate it”?

Jaggy: “Imagine some one suffered a Cardiac Arrest and is not responding. You need to ask someone nearby to call the Ambulance and get the AED. As the victim is not breathing you have started CPR. Once the AED arrives and switched on, it will prompt the user to Attach Pads to Patient’s Chest. Pictures on the pads will show you where exactly to attach it.

Once the pads are attached the AED will prompt Analysing Heart Rhythm. Do not touch the patient. CPR is stopped while the AED analyses. After a few seconds comes the instruction Shock Advised, Charging, Stay clear. The machine then delivers the shock. The patient will jerk a little which is normal. The AED then says it is safe to touch the patient. Begin CPR now. You perform CPR till the AED prompts you to stop and it reanalyses. Thus, with a combination of CPR and shock from the AED, lives can be saved during Cardiac Arrests”.

Maggie: “How soon we need to use an AED after a Cardiac Arrest”?

Jaggy: “Within the first 5 minutes. The sooner the better. If delayed the chances are going to be slim”.

Maggie: “It is indeed a life saving machine. Where all can we have an AED”?

Jaggy: “An AED can be placed anywhere. Usually, the ambulances are equipped with Defibrillators. In many countries they are available in Airports, Railway stations, Bus stations, places of work, and even schools. I mean they can be everywhere”.

Maggie: “Now that you have mentioned Schools, do we use different pads for children or infants”?

Jaggy: “Yes. The pads used are different, but if they are not available adult pads can be used. Children and infants rarely suffer Cardiac arrests”.

Maggie: “Nice Jaggy. Do we need to be trained to use it”?

Jaggy: “A first aider needs to be trained on how to use it. Most of the manufactures and sellers of AED arrange a training on how to use one. All one needs to do is attend. Even if not trained they can call the Emergency services who can guide them on how to use the same”.

Maggie: “Thank you so much. I’ll watch videos and attend a training for sure”.

How to use AED

Jaggy: “To sum up I would say this”.


CPR = Human effort
AED = technology
Human Effort + Technology = Miracles

More from Jaggy and Maggie in my next blog.

Thanks for Reading and Sharing.

Loving you all so much.

Seshadri Varadarajan.

Innovate or Evaporate – II

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Hello readers! Trust everyone is safe and staying safe. Safety today has assumed utmost importance as we are all going through a time which has been the toughest one in the century. The month of August was pretty tough for me personally, however the period taught me a lot of things which will help me a lot in life. This blog will be a continuation of the last blog where we had discussed innovative lifesaving products, patented and produced in India by Jayasheel Adapa. In fact, he has patented a total of 17 products of which I have written only about four of them. In this blog, we shall discuss three more products.

Mr.Jayasheel Adapa

The last blog ended with the product called Escape Smoke Hood and the one which we will discuss is an extension of the same. It is known as Emergency Escape Breathing Device or in short EEBD. In some factories and industrial establishments, it is not easy to evacuate immediately whenever an alarm is raised. Some processes have to be shut down properly before the employee can move out of the area. The inherent dangers in such situations are Smoke and Heat. The oxygen levels too go down and the smoke hood even if available will not be sufficient in such a situation. The EEBD consists of a cylinder filled with air and is connected to a Hood with a visor. The Hood is aluminized and as such can withstand heat. All this is placed in a bag which one needs to hang over his shoulder. To wear it one needs to open the bag, place the hood over his face and pull a pin in the cylinder to start the flow of air. The air in the cylinder can be used for 15 to 20 minutes thereby helping the person to breathe easy and come out. This facilitates easy evacuation and this is not a rescue device. Though popular in marine and shipping industry by the name ELSA (Emergency Life Saving Apparatus) it is not much known elsewhere and this is where Mr. Jayasheel stepped in by making and patenting it so that anyone in a process can easily use it.

EEBD

I was always fascinated by an old story written by Leo Tolstoy named “A SPARK NEGLECTED BURNS THE HOUSE”. Though the story talks about broken friendship this maxim is true in case of Fire. Most fire accidents that have been caused during the pandemic time can be attributed to Electrical malfunctions. Though we install fire extinguishers and smoke detectors near electrical panels, by the time anyone comes and uses it may be too late. There are a lot of micro environments and unmanned areas which are highly vulnerable to such electrical sparks. To take care and suppress the fire right at the Incipient stage a product called Fire Sniper was patented by Jayasheel. This is a micro fire suppression system which simply extinguishes the fire within 10 seconds of inception. The Sniper has a cylinder filled with the extinguishing media and has actuation and solenoid valves. To the valves is connected a pressurized polymer heat sensing tube which can be routed through the area that needs protection. If there is a fire and the flame touches the tube, it punctures and discharges the media right at the heart of the fire like a surgical strike thereby the fire is put out immediately and it will not go to the next stage. This product has not only been patented but has been approved by LPCB (LOSS PREVENTION CERTIFICATION BOARD UK). This certifies that this product is manufactured stringently and qualitatively to the highest standards. The snipers are available in various capacities. The extinguishing media used is either Mono Ammonium Phosphate Dry Chemical Powder, or Clean Agent gas.

Fire Sniper

Due to globalisation, many corporate and industrial houses have kitchens in their premises, as a lot of people have to be fed. The food courts in IT companies occupy huge space and the entire cuisine of the world is made available, and as such the kitchens have a lot of equipment and are big. Fire hazard is quite prominent and all these kitchens have Hoods which can be the cause and spread of fire. Heated fatty oils too are dangerous and are difficult to put out. Here is where the mind of Jayasheel worked overtime, to create a version of the Kitchen Sniper. This is similar in design to the normal fire sniper, with the only differences being the colour and extinguishing agent. The extinguishing agent here is the Wet Chemical specific for fatty oils and kitchen fires.  

The innovations in such products have reminded me of the verse of an old Hindi song

Suraj Dekh Rukh Gaya Hai,

Tere Aage Jhukh Gaya Hai,

Jab Kabhi Aise Koyi  Mastaana,

Nikhle Apni Dhun Mein Deewana,

Shaam Suhaani Ban Jaate Hain Din Intezar Ke,

Oh rahi Oh rahi,

Ruk Jaana Nahin Tu Kahin Haar ke.

God Bless You Mr. Jayasheel Adapa. May you create many more innovation in Life Safety.

In my next blog we shall be creating a complete fire fighter. Till then Stay safe and be safe.

For more info on the products visit ushafire.com and resguardo.com

Seshadri Varadarajan.

9840814353

Innovate or Evaporate

Uncategorized, , ,

Wish all my fellow Indians a HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY. It is exactly on this day 74 years ago India became free from the British rule. We have progressed quite a lot and still a lot remains to be done. We all need to proactively work towards making the country safe, and by doing that we build a stronger and a healthy country. Let us on this day Pledge to be SAFE and cut down life loss in Emergency situations.  

The world is going through a tough pandemic time and everyone of us has been affected. But this pandemic has forced us to think better and improve ourselves. We are doing many things which we had never done before. During an online interview of mine a question was asked what is new in the field of Safety and are there any one innovating in the field of safety? This blog is dedicated to one such man, who not only dared to innovate, but even put up a manufacturing unit for the products he innovated upon.

Mr. Jayasheel Adapa, is the founder director of Usha Fire Safety Equipments Pvt Ltd, Managing Director of Usha Armour Pvt Ltd and Managing Director of Resguardo Industries Pvt. Ltd. An Engineer by profession, an innovator at heart, and a business man with a noble cause, he is instrumental today in patenting and marketing Innovative Rescue Products in India. A passionate trainer, who believes that a trainer should not only train, but identify and eliminate gaps in safety and rescue. This part of him has led to many innovations in manufacturing and marketing rescue products. His innovations are many and hence this blog will be in 2 parts.

 As a trainer while conducting Evacuation drills or Fire drills in high rises, one of the major factors is about evacuating people with special challenges like mobility impairments or expectant mothers. During a drill they are exempted from participation, or they are evacuated in advance. However, in real time what do they do and where do they go and how they will be rescued? In advanced countries an Evacuation Rescue Chair is used for the same. They are made available in all the floors over there and the ERT (EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM) use it to save lives. A thought occurred to Jayasheel why not we make the same in India. He not only started manufacturing them, but even patented the product, something which not many do in India. This chair basically moves like a wheel chair on the floor and can glide on the stairwell to evacuate people with mobility impairments.

A separate model of the chair was designed for hospital use also where one can easily hang the intravenous tubes and keep all the relevant documents of the patient in a pouch. This helps in evacuating a patient from a hospital despite all the challenges.

We all are familiar with a wheel chair but how many of us are familiar with a liftable wheel chair? This Innovative chair is not only a wheel chair but it can also be lifted. The Liftable wheel chair was designed by him to evacuate people trapped in basements, and where there are no ramps it is difficult to bring up injured people. This equipment helps rescuers to easily and quickly rescue persons from basements. This product too is patented and manufactured by him.

One of the most important elements of rescue or medical evacuation is to carry patients in a stretcher. Most stretchers do not fit into elevators and the staircase is the only option. When the victim is carried in usually his legs protrude out, and if oxygen has to be administered it is even more difficult. Two problems which did not really have a solution till Jayasheel thought of it and designed a stretcher, with a Foot pouch to lock the feet, and a pouch for a portable oxygen cylinder. Now rescue and medical evacuation have become easier. It requires a high level of thinking to understand the problem, and to arrive at this kind of innovative solutions.

For the ERT team doing the evacuation one situation they always have to encounter during a fire is deadly smoke. We have discussed about smoke in the earlier blogs, and we know exactly what to do. But for the last person coming out, the density of smoke could increase and the life can be in danger, and here is where the Escape Smoke Hood comes into play. It is made of fire-retardant fabric and has a cartridge with chemicals, that can filter deadly gases like Carbon Monoxide, Hydrogen Cyanide, Acrolein to name a few for a period of 15 minutes. This enables the last person whether an ERT, production manager in a factory, a doctor in an OT, and even a resident coming out of his home to be protected from Smoke.

When all these products were imported, one man dared to produce all these in his factory in India. All the products are registered with the Controller General of Patents and Trademarks, Government of India and other International approvals like LPCB.  This to me signifies Aatmnirbhar Bharat, the clarion call of the Prime Minister of India. More such products and innovations from Mr.Jayasheel in my next blog.

Till then stay safe and be safe.

Seshadri Varadarajan.

9840814353.

For more info on the products visit www.resguardo.com