Defibrillators at Work

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Story Published: Dec 29, 2009 at 6:42 PM PDT

By David Klugh

Yakima -- This summer, a donation to the Yakima Fire Department bought 9 defibrillators.
These life saving devices are now in busy spots throughout the city including the airport, convention center and the courthouse.
If you think that money could have been better spent on something else… I think there's someone you should meet.

Glen Powers is one of those guys who just glows with optimism. For the last 27-years, he's been a treasured employee here at Washington Beef in Toppenish.

Though he's nowhere near retirement, this year would have been his last here… if not for this strange-looking box on the wall.

"Apparently heart just stopped," Glen recalls. "I had three co-workers that were helping me out doing CPR to try and sustain it before our medical staff got there with the defibrillator that shocked me twice and got the heart going."

After that, Powers' boss, Brad McDowell, decided one defibrillator was not enough and bought three more, known as AED's.

"I wanted an assessment done and the purchase of additional AED's and additional training throughout the facility so that we had accessibility and trained resources to deal with this situation 24 hours a day."

That same desire to protect his employees struck the John Haas hops Company. Bob Mondor says Haas now has 12 AED's company-wide, 5 here in Yakima.

"We made our decision based on the experiences we've seen throughout the workplace. Sooner or later we're gonna have a heart attack within the Johnny Haas premises."

But these defibrillators also come with a stigma. Some managers see them as an added liability. Use it wrong, and the company could be sued.

Companies like Washington Beef and Hass knew better. The state's Good Samaritan Act protects you and your employees, even customers from liability for attempting to save a life. And these portable defibrillators are nearly foolproof.

They even talk you through the process.

"If you want to show that you value your customers and your employees you install a public access defibrillator. And if it's used to save someone's life, I mean, you've done something incredible," says YFD's Ron Melcher.

Just ask Glen Powers. He's got one incredible story to tell his grand kids.

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