World Superbike paddock gets portable defibrillators

A new link-up between the World Superbike championship’s Clinica Mobilia and Cardiac Science Southern Europe will see a number of easy-to-use portable defibrillators installed every weekend throughout the paddock.

The culmination of a recent programme of works between the cardiac specialists and the world championship’s own doctors, it will see a number of the Powerheart devices made available for emergencies.

A heart defibrillator will help restore the natural rhythm of the heart when a person is experiencing dangerous arrhythmia or cardiac arrest. They can only be used when a patient is suffering from cardiac arrest or severe heart fibulation, since the electrical shock they produce can damage a beating heart.

Previously found only in hospitals and ambulances, but in recent years the reduced size and cost of these units has brought them into wider use. Defibrillators have saved countless lives that would have been lost had it not been for the portability and affordability of new devices.