Research shows that the survival rate for those suffering cardiac arrest outside the hospital is only 7%.1 HSLS reference librarian Michele Klein-Fedyshin, who earned her RN last year, used an automatic external defibrillator (AED), along with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), to assist in the rescue of a Pitt professor who suffered a cardiac arrest at the University Club gym on April 15, 2010. Klein-Fedyshin and Dave Nanz, the responding Pitt police officer, were awarded a certificate of recognition at the annual meeting of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association (SCAA) on October 8, 2010.
AEDs are life-saving equipment in arrest situations, along with CPR. The Pitt campus has placed AEDs in various locations around the campus, and Pitt police carry them in response to medical calls.2 HSLS is purchasing an AED to be placed in the Falk Library lobby. The time saved by having an AED nearby can translate into a life saved. Hopefully, it will never need to be used.
1National Center for Early Defibrillation.
2Kimberly K. Barlow, “Importance of AEDs Hits Home—Twice,” University Times, June 10, 2010.
~ Michele Klein-Fedyshin
The instruments were produced by Hermann Hernstein & Son. There are three key factors that identify the set as belonging to the Civil War era: (1) the mark of H. Hernstein & Son, which was used from 1862 to 1865, when the company was selling directly to the military under contract; (2) Herstein & Son’s address from 1855 to 1867, 393 Broadway in New York City, is engraved on the instruments; and (3)
the wooden case contains a single sliding latch not found on any civilian instrument sets of the period.
Libraries, by definition, are organized operations. We try to keep track of everything we do. We count our virtual and in-person visits, we count our loans, we count the number of reference questions received, and we count the number of educational sessions offered. We analyze whether these numbers are going up or down, and we scratch our heads to figure out what it all means.
Robin Sencenbach earned her BA in English, with a minor in history, at Allegheny College. While at Allegheny College, she interned at the library where she helped move and organize special collections materials during the library’s renovation. Sencenbach also volunteered at the Heinz History Center as a tour guide and intern to the curators. She is interning in the Technical Services Department at Falk Library.
Priya Shenoy received her BS in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. Shenoy worked as a staff nurse on a cardiac floor at Georgetown University Hospital and as a public health nurse. As an undergraduate, she worked in the circulation department at the University of Pennsylvania’s Charles Patterson Van Pelt Library. Before deciding to pursue a career in library science, Shenoy shadowed librarians at the National Library of Medicine, George Washington University’s Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, and a public library. This past summer, she interned at Georgetown University’s Dahlgren Memorial Library, where she spent time in every department. Shenoy is interning in the Reference Department at Falk Library.
Robyn Reed, the 2010-2011 Trainee, earned a BS in medical technology and chemistry from SUNY Fredonia, an MS in pharmacology from SUNY Buffalo, and an MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh. Reed decided to pursue a career in bioinformatics because she’s interested in how computer applications can be utilized to disseminate pertinent information to specific populations. Last summer, Reed completed a consumer health field placement at UPMC Shadyside’s Hopwood Library. She is currently working with Dr. Titus Schleyer in the School of Dental Medicine on a dental informatics project. Reed will spend time in both the Falk Library Reference Department and the Molecular Biology Information Service.