Philips HeartStart Monitor Review

Weighing just over 13 pounds, the Philips HeartStart MRx ALS Monitor/Defibrillator is a compact tool that has become popular among agencies responding to EMS calls. Ease of use, long battery-powered operating time, large color display and the SMART Biphasic resuscitation waveform are just a few of the features the Philips HeartStart Monitor/Defibrillator boasts, all incorporated with first responders in mind.

This tool was the first ALS monitor/defibrillator equipped with CPR measurement and feedback technology. Some benefits include large numeric measurements, waveforms and alarm indicators which enable the user to quickly access information.  The appearance of waveforms and measurements can be customized to the users' preferences, monitoring and therapy data are clearly and logically arranged on-screen, and menus make navigation simple for configuring data, setting and responding to alarms, and accessing additional functionality.

"I like to tell the guys that if it's my mom or me on the ground, I want to give you a device that's there to back up your skills, not distract you by having to keep turning and playing with the monitor," explained Kevin O'Grady, Territory Manager for Philips Health Care. 

O'Grady claimed that the Philips HeartStart MRx ALS Monitor/Defibrillator is the only device that offers all 12 leads at one time without having to "go in, push buttons and look around at the different EKG's." He goes on to say that the device can take a 12 lead off of a patient in their house and the information can be sent to an emergency room over the internet within seconds, saving EMS responders critical time when deciding which hospital the patient should be transferred to.

O'Grady explained, "When you go to pacing, these parameters then change to pacing parameters. If we were going to a defibrillation mode we turn it to adult dose and the ECG gets twice as big, the numbers get twice as big." Other measurements include cardioversion and invasive and non-invasive blood pressure monitoring. The rechargeable lithium ion batteries included in this unit last three to four times longer than other devices on the market.

According to O'Grady, this monitor/defibrillator has FAST-Sp02 (Fournier Artifact Suppression Technology) and End-Tidal CO2, or Capnography, which is the monitoring of the concentration or partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the respiratory gases. He also described a new feature on this device which can send periodic clinical data every minute, including vitals that responders are performing on the patient. This allows doctors to have a printout of all tasks performed on the patient in the last 20 minutes by the time responders arrive at the hospital.

O'Grady said that a firefighter from the Huntington Beach Fire Department stated that his agency is a Philips customer because their device is simple to use. O'Grady added, "He said 'one of our medics just came back from maternity leave. She was with her partner 10 minutes going over this, the chimes went off and they ran a full code, she ran the code, they saved the patient."

For more information on the Philips HeartStart MRx ALS Monitor/Defibrillator, click here.

Contributors to this story:
Barbara Brooks - Video report
Anna Sweeney - Camera/Editor
Renee Marquart - Text Story

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