Hey Nash -
I'm sure about this condesending attitude you are bringing to the forum. What's THAT all about!?!? [Linked Image]

Just an FYI - Ben's info is absolutely correct ... Dr Pantridge developed the "portable defibrillator" which was used to save HIS life.
http://www.todayinsci.com/cgi-bin/indexpage.pl?http://www.todayinsci.com/10/10_03.htm[/UR L]

James Francis (Frank) Pantridge
Died 26 Dec 2004 (born 3 Oct 1916) Irish cardiologist who developed the life-saving portable defibrillator. He found out that death occurred within the first hour for 60% of males (up to middle-age) that died from heart attack, and of these, 90% suffered ventricular fibrillation. To begin earliest possible treatment, in 1965, Pantridge equipped an ambulance with a portable defibrillator. It achieved a 50% long-term patient survival rate. This pre-hospital coronary care plan was adopted rapidly in America and was used in 1972 when President Lyndon Johnson suffered a heart attack during a visit to Virginia. In 1979, the first automated external defibrillators (AEDs) became available. The British government lagged, but in 1990 funded defibrillators for all front-line ambulances in England.

However, William Bennett Kouwenhoven, - is credited with the same claim to fame... Hmmm
Kouwenhoven, William (Bennett) (1886–1975)
US educator and electrical engineer. While a professor of electrical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, he invented the first practical defibrillator used in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia. In 1959, he introduced the first-aid technique of external heart massage. Kouwenhoven was born in New York City.

Joanne



[This message has been edited by Joanne (edited 04-28-2006).]