Westminster – February 7th 2001
CRY SUPPORTER STEPHEN ALLAN SHOWS HIS RECENTLY INSERTED ICD TO EARL HOWE AND MARK WENDRUFF AT THE RECENT HOUSE OF COMMONS LAUNCH OF THE MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY GROUP. EARL HOWE IS HOLDING AN ICD SIMILAR TO THE ONE STEPHEN HAS. MARK WENDRUFF RECEIVED HIS ICD 5 YEARS AGO. THE NEW PROTOTYPES ARE FITTED INTO THE LOWER CHEST MUSCLE. EARLIER MODELS WERE PLACED IN THE STOMACH.
Cardiac Risk in the Young is part of a coalition group working to raise the profile of how medical technology saves lives. At the recent launch of The Medical Technology Group in the House of Commons Lord Hunt (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health) described it as “a celebration of innovations in science and medicine.”
He was among 30 MPs, Ministers and Peers who supported the event aimed at raising awareness of the positive impact of technology on people’s lives and pressing for health-care policies that facilitate patient access. The Group wants to ensure that funding is available for all patients who would benefit from new technology which it believes is “saving and improving lives.”
The ICD (Internal Cardiac Defibrillator) is a device for rapid detection and treatment of life threatening changes in heart beating patterns (ventricular arrhythmia) and sudden cardiac arrest. It is implanted in the lower chest muscle, with one or more leads passed through into the heart. Should the device detect an arrhythmia, it sends electrical impulses into the heart to correct and restore normal rhythm. ICD implantation in the UK needs to triple before it can compare to the average rate in Europe. It is now considered to be the most effective response to those young people considered to be at risk of suffering a sudden cardiac arrest, who will have been diagnosed with a potentially life threatening cardiac condition. Stephen Allan’s brother Richard died suddenly aged 16, last September from Sudden Death Syndrome. Stephen was immediately screened and given an ICD.
