Hormel to add lifesaving devices companywide

By Jeff Hansel

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

7/24/2008

Hormel Foods Corp. plans to install lifesaving devices in company buildings around the world.

"Hormel Foods is in the process of developing a comprehensive Automated External Defibrillators (AED) program throughout our facilities systemwide," said Larry Lyons, the company's director of human resources.

The machines can shock misfiring hearts back to normal rhythm.

They are already carried in squad cars by Rochester Police officers.

Between November 1990 and December 2007, 103 people were saved by police with AEDs in Rochester, the department's Web site says.

Randy Woods of Osage, Iowa collapsed on the Austin Hormel pork line in 2006. Company emergency plans, a rescue-trained coworker and a chain of first responders saved Woods. Lack of oxygen before he was revived, with AED shocks by first responders, affected his memory and response time. His wife Brandee said Monday from his Rochester medical appointment that he'll be glad Hormel will install AEDs, one of which could have helped him.

"They might have been able to get his heart started sooner," she said. Lyons said Hormel's move should increase the odds of saving employees who experience cardiac arrest.

"If you can just save a few lives a year, these things more than pay for themselves," said Terry Ellerman, a Rochester survivor and board member of the Minnesota Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivor Network.

Hormel, based in Austin, has 18,100 employees globally, according to its Web site.

"Hormel Foods has been evaluating the use of AEDs in our locations for over four years. Recent technology advancements and research finally resulted in devices that are user-friendly and dependable to the point where it became practical to move forward with the initiative," Lyons said.

Hormel has 12 plants and maintains sales offices in 25 cities in the United States alone. The company plans to place AEDs in 22 facilities this fall, with more added later. The machine is easy to use, said Ellerman, who wants churches and businesses to get AEDs.

"If the party doesn't have a pulse, then they can hook them up and the machine actually works you through the process," he said. "The thing won't fire unless it has to, so you can't get accidentally shocked. Just having it near the patient would be the key issue."

That's because the faster defibrillation happens, the better. Each minute of delay decreases survival chances by 10 percent, so the first 10 minutes are crucial. An AED nearby can make the difference.

"If Hormel gets it, or gets more in the future, you're chance of saving the patient is increasing at a high percentage," Ellerman

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