Man saved by wearable defibrillator

ROBBINSDALE, Minn. -- We've seen defibrillators pop up in airports, schools and even restaurants.

Now there's a way people can actually wear them. It's called a LifeVest. 

It doesn't look like much but some call it a portable emergency room.

North Memorial cardiologist Dr. Rick Taylor says, "It gives you the kind of therapy you would get in an emergency room and it's there for you 24/7."

When worn, the LifeVest, made by Zoll, can shock back to life those at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. 

When its electrodes sense an irregular heart rhythm an alarm sounds and then a shock is delivered to the heart through three pads, two on the back and one on the chest.

That's what it did for 70-year-old Uri Koppel in September.

Koppel, of Plymouth, says, "I didn't know what was going on.  I just woke up within a second and then my son immediately called the ambulance." 

Koppel had been prescribed the life vest just a few weeks earlier after having had a massive heart attack but before he was eligible to get an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD.)

Taylor says, "During this period of time there's a significant risk of having an arrhythmia which can be life threatening."

He says wearing the LifeVest is better than carrying around an automatic external defibrillator because no one needs to be with you to apply the shock. Koppel says, "Thank god that that LifeVest was here."

Koppel's son was with him at his home when the LifeVest shocked him.  According to Koppel, "He said, 'Dad, that thing really did what it was supposed to do!'  And he was very, very, very excited about it."

Renting a life vest can cost up to $3,200 dollars a month but is generally covered by insurance. 

Koppel says he initially hesitated on getting one but a doctor friend convinced him.  He says it was well worth his $500 co-pay.

Now that Koppel has an implanted defibrillator, he no longer needs this portable emergency room with him.

Koppel says, "I feel 100% better right now.  I'm very lucky to be alive."

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