EON

73 Year Old Gentleman First To Be Issued Remote Defibrillator

Midland- The first Canadian to be issued a home-based defibrillator is a 73-year-old man from Midland.

George Woods received surgery to implant a remote defibrillator, and his surgery appears to have been successful.

Mr. Woods was given the device into his chest with a two inch incision by surgeon Dr. Atul Verma.

The decision was made to give Mr. Woods his remote defibrillator because he has been through a number of heart attacks, and two bypass surgeries.

He also resides quite some distance from the hospital.

The defibrillator gives the patient an electric shock to stop irregular chest rhythms, and it allows remote monitoring of the patient long distance, using the Internet to report the patient’s condition electronically to the hospital.

His surgeon, Dr. Atul Verma is the Southlake Regional Health Centre surgeon who operated on Mr. Woods, and who continues to monitor and supervise the condition of Mr. Woods.

The device is now available across Canada, and is called the Vision 3D system, and it is the size of a normal stop watch.  The device will be used more and more as surgeons and doctors learn of its availability.