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Man dies of heart failure after museum refuses to share defibrillator (www.sfchronicle.com)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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After Gary Hobish collapsed while swing-dancing with friends in Golden Gate Park Sunday, a fellow dancer raced to the nearby de Young Museum in search of a defibrillator. Most people in the group knew Hobish, 70, had a heart condition. Seconds counted.

Inside the museum, Tim O’Brien found himself pleading with a staff member to let him use the life-saving device, or to accompany him back to where Hobish, a legend of the Bay Area music scene, lay unconscious. O’Brien offered the museum staffer his wallet and his watch as collateral.

The museum staffer checked with his boss, but the answer was firm: The de Young defibrillator could not leave the building.

O’Brien sprinted empty handed back to the group, where a doctor who had luckily been on the scene was administering CPR. Paramedics arrived a few minutes later, but by then nearly 10 minutes had gone by, O’Brien said.

But I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody outside of a small circle of friends

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

As someone who has been "in charge" on a site where there's a defibrillator and had absolutely no training regarding it, I feel for the museum staff a bit. The one I'm familiar with was covered in warnings that amount to "absolutely do not open this box unless you are currently speaking with a medical professional who is telling you to do so" so I can't say for sure what I'd do if a random person ran in and told me they needed to take it elsewhere. Sitting around now I can logically see, yeah, better to just let them take it and deal with the consequences than risk someone dying because I didn't, but it's not quite as easy when you're suddenly thrust into that situation out of nowhere while you're trying to get your work done and thinking about what you're going to make for dinner