With the investment market slowed by uncertainty, local biotechs contemplating initial public offerings are likely to wait until after the first of the year before making any kind of move.
Doug Obenshain, San Diego-based Ernst & Young LLP health sciences partner, suspects that renewed uncertainty over the presidential election has been in part responsible for the wobbly stock market.
“A lot could happen between now and early January,” Obenshain said. “If that (presidential election) gets resolved, it’s possible the market will see a recovery.” A bill introduced Sept. 27 by U.S. Rep. William O. Lipinski, D-Illinois, would require AEDs in terminals at certain airports. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Lake said the proposed legislation did not prompt local airport officials to buy AEDs at this time. Rather, the decision was based on San Diego’s aging population , the predominant age group to suffer a cardiac arrest.
Each year, about a dozen travelers suffer sudden cardiac arrest at Lindbergh Field, said Lake.
Medical professionals say that for each minute that passes without an AED, the survival rate goes down by 10 percent.
In California, a bill authored by state Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Hayward, and signed into law last year by Gov. Gray Davis, expands “Good Samaritan” legal protections to AED users.
A federal bill signed into law last month by President Bill Clinton expands the same protection to a number of states.
Dunford said he’s excited about the airport being first to partner with the city’s 911 system.
Dunford, who will be overseeing the airport’s AED system as medical director, already confirmed he will approve Lake’s proposal to adopt AEDs. Lake said she will submit the proposal to Dunford next month.
The plan calls for all AEDs to be linked to the airport’s security system, Lake said. Once AED’s wall-mounted case is opened, an alarm will sound and a signal dispatched to all police and paramedics units.
Dunford said O’Hare and Midway airports’ aim to have an AED accessible within three minutes of an incident has shown success.
He wants to follow the example of other cities by expanding AED units into businesses, federal buildings and other public places.
One year’s worth of AED data derived from the airport will set the stage for further implementation elsewhere, he said.
Meanwhile, Lake said she is still comparing prices of AED units.
The average cost for a machine is $3,000, according to the Heart Association, which agreed to donate six AEDs to the local airport.
A six-hour course to train people in AED use costs about $50 at the Heart Association, Lake said. Police officers trained in CPR still need about four hours to successfully operate the machine, she said.
Coordinating classes for many of the airports’ approximately 7,000 workers is tricky, Lake said.
“Training is cumbersome, but once you get things rolling it becomes a little easier,” she said. Police officers and 22 paramedics are first in line, followed by the concession stand workers, and ticket and gate agents, she said.
