Midland- A man who has suffered several key heart attacks and who lives a long distance from medical help in Midland became the first patient in Canada to receive a remote defibrillator.

Man From Midland Becomes First To Receive Device In Canada

Midland- A man who has suffered several key heart attacks and who lives a long distance from medical help in Midland became the first patient in Canada to receive a remote defibrillator.

George Woods is able to keep a higher standard of life yet be remotely monitored over the Internet by the Southlake Region Health Centre where he had the lifesaving defibrillator implanted.

His Surgeon, Dr. Atul Verma, inserted the device into a two inch incision on Mr. Woods chest.

Mr. Woods was chosen to be the first patient because of his need for the device and the long distance from medical care where he lives.

The new defibrillator is a Vision 3D device that is the side of an average stopwatch, and is made by medical equipment developer Medtronic, Inc.

The new device will measure the heartbeat of George Woods, and if the heartbeat stops administer a shock to restart the heart.

In addition it has features to support long distance monitoring so Mr. Woods doctors can sit a long distance away and see how he is doing.