Carrie Fisher. Dead.

[SqueakyVoice]

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/dec/27/carrie-fisher-dies-star-wars-princess-leia

[Shaker]

This has been a grim, grim Christmas for celebrity deaths 

Just heard that Richard Adams died on Xmas Eve. OK, at 96 that was sad rather than shocking - he led a very long and good life. But still.

[Anchorman]

I'm just gonna watch the original movie as a tribute. With a Laphroaig.

[Brownie]

Very sad, 60 is no age.
I'd heard about her illness but it was quite a shock to hear she'd died.

[Nearly Sane]

A person who used their open honesty for good. Clever witty and kind. And in many ways a role model both with Leia and her life

[Hope]

Very sad, 60 is no age.
I'd heard about her illness but it was quite a shock to hear she'd died.

If her heart attack hadn't occurred during the flight to the US, she might have recovered.  Unfortunately, the defibrillator that all planes have on board, can't be used by the aircrew - only by trained medics/paramedics.  I also understanbd that she has had mental health issues - but whether that played a part, I don't know.

[BeRational]

If her heart attack hadn't occurred during the flight to the US, she might have recovered.  Unfortunately, the defibrillator that all planes have on board, can't be used by the aircrew - only by trained medics/paramedics.  I also understanbd that she has had mental health issues - but whether that played a part, I don't know.

What'e the point in carrying it then?

I have used a defib and I have zero training.

It's easy the machine tells you what to do, any idiot could use one.

I did.

[jeremyp]

What'e the point in carrying it then?

I have used a defib and I have zero training.

It's easy the machine tells you what to do, any idiot could use one.

I did.

I simply don't believe it. If you issue instructions "you may not use this defibrillator" to your employees, you are effectively saying "it's this person's life or your career". Any company asking its employees to make that choice is morally bankrupt.

[Hope]

What'e the point in carrying it then?

I have used a defib and I have zero training.

It's easy the machine tells you what to do, any idiot could use one.

I did.

I suspect that it can't be used other than by a medic because of a fear of litigation.  When one uses one as an ordinary member of the public - which I assume is what happened in your case, litigation is more difficult than when it involves the employee of a company on company 'property'. 

[BeRational]

I suspect that it can't be used other than by a medic because of a fear of litigation.  When one uses one as an ordinary member of the public - which I assume is what happened in your case, litigation is more difficult than when it involves the employee of a company on company 'property'.

Why litigation?

You cannot make it fire unless it decides it needs to.

No training required.

If you are in the position to need one, you are thankful that anyone is around to attach it.

It does the rest.

[jeremyp]

I suspect that it can't be used other than by a medic because of a fear of litigation.  When one uses one as an ordinary member of the public - which I assume is what happened in your case, litigation is more difficult than when it involves the employee of a company on company 'property'.

What litigation do you think the company would be subject to if somebody had a heart attack and all its employees just stood around watching them die because the company said it would fire them if they used the equipment that could save them?

[SusanDoris]

And now another sad announcement - Debbie Reynolds has died too.

[Nearly Sane]

And now another sad announcement - Debbie Reynolds has died too.

Clip from Charlotte's Web with Debbie Reynolds doing the voiceover covering the natural cycle of death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=pX1csOAu1IM

[Hope]

What litigation do you think the company would be subject to if somebody had a heart attack and all its employees just stood around watching them die because the company said it would fire them if they used the equipment that could save them?

Who knows, but I'm told by a past British Airways employee that that is the case.

[BeRational]

Who knows, but I'm told by a past British Airways employee that that is the case.

Perhaps their information is out of date.

Defibs are more common in public places now.

They require no special training. You cannot shock someone  as it decides whether to shock or not.

[Hope]

Perhaps their information is out of date.

Defibs are more common in public places now.

They require no special training. You cannot shock someone  as it decides whether to shock or not.

Sorry, BR.  This particular source was working with BA until about a year ago, and knows people who are still working with the company who confirm the situation.  I was talking with them yesterday, and ironically, both they and I agree with you on the simplicity and almost automatic nature of the things, but whether there is a complication related to pressurized containers, like aircraft, that makes in necessary for trained folk only to use them, I don't know.

To return to Carrie Fisher's particular case, has anyone said that a defib. would have saved her life?  All I've heard is that her survival was compromised as a result of her being on board a plane in flight \t the time of her attack. 

[BeRational]

Google search says all BA flights DO carry defibs

https://www.resus.org.uk/statements/automated-external-defibrillators-on-aircraft/

[wigginhall]

I remember Carrie, being bitchy, saying that her dad (Eddie Fisher), had rushed to Elizabeth Taylor's side when her husband (Mike Todd) was killed in a plane crash, and then 'he gradually moved round to her front'.   Hollywood royalty, eh?