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Volume CXXXII, Number 12 |
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BSG's professors of the semester
To the Community:
The academic integrity of the College relies heavily on student effort, however that integrity would falter without the dedication and the commitment of the Bowdoin faculty. The faculty's tireless effort to guide and instruct the work of their students, their unending pledge to increase intellectual curiosity on campus and their wealth of both knowledge and energy often go unrecognized. BSG (Bowdoin Student Government) would like to recognize those faculty members who have done an outstanding job, those professors who have put in the extra effort, those mentors who have made a deep impact on the lives of their students.
With this in mind, BSG has established the highly coveted Professor of the Semester Award. At the end of the past semester, all students had the opportunity to vote and share personal stories about the professor that influenced them most profoundly over the past semester. Many professors were nominated and many compelling stories were told. However, after careful review of all submissions, two professors were selected: Professor Jonathan White, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Professor Jeffrey Nagle, Professor of Chemistry. BSG would like to formally congratulate Professors White and Nagle for all of their hard work. We would like to further thank the faculty at large for their time and dedication; it has not gone unnoticed.
Sincerely,
Bowdoin Student Government
Defending defibrillator equipment
To the Editors:
Recent submissions to the Orient by Kerry Elson ("College installs emergency defibrillator equipment") and Jim McDonald ("Drop the slogan and skip a week") deserve corrections and clarifications on the function and role of an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED).
Early defibrillation is the single most important factor for a patient to survive cardiac arrest (Emergency Care, 2001). Although Elson said "the apparatus is usually used as a last resort if the patient does not respond to 'Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation'," a defibrillator is the only viable method for creating normal heart rhythms. CPR alone will rarely save someone in cardiac arrest. Further, the AED may not restore a patient's consciousness, and those patients who are restored to a normal heart rhythm are at high risk of going back into ventricular fibrillation.
Elson also noted that the "AED monitors the breathing and heart rate of the individual in order to administer electrical shocks." Defibrillators recognize the most common normal and abnormal heart rhythms, whereas the detection of an abnormal rhythm by the AED will allow the patient to be shocked. If the AED does not detect a "shockable" rhythm, it will not allow the rescuer to proceed.
Given that people of all ages may experience cardiac arrest, the AED is not a "mobile electric chair" as McDonald said, but rather a lifesaving tool that is important to have on our campus. No one said, "a sixth grader could use this instrument;" there are certain precautions that need to be carefully followed. First of all, emergency medical services and security should be contacted immediately. Secondly, before CPR or rescue breathing are initiated, it should be confirmed that the patient is unconscious, not breathing, and does not have a pulse. Thirdly, in the event that the AED finds a shockable rhythm, it is essential that all rescuers be clear of the patient and anything that may conduct electricity.
The Automatic External Defibrillator is an important and lifesaving piece of equipment. Cardiac arrests outside of the hospital occur at a rate of around 1000 a day, and evidence shows that after ten minutes, the survival rate drops to less than 2 percent without defibrillation (Heart Disease Weekly, 2002).
In the first ten months following the installation of AEDs in Chicago's O'Hare Airport, nine of 14 cardiac arrest victims were saved using the AED, a 75 percent survival rate. AEDs have been proven to save lives; training for using an AED can be pursued through the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association.
Sincerely,
Greg Goldsmith '05
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