Welch Allyn recently announced that it is recalling over 14,000 external defibrillators after 39 reported incidents, including two that involved patient deaths.

The recall involves the AED 10 and MRL JumpStart external defibrillators made between Oct. 3, 2002, and Jan. 25, 2007. The company stated there is a remote chance the devices, available through prescription, may produce low-energy shock, shutdown unexpectedly or be susceptible to electromagnetic noise interference.

This may prevent defibrillation of a patient in cardiac arrest and could lead to death, the company said in a statement. Welch Allyn reported that it had received 20 instances of low-energy shock, eight instances of electromagnetic noise interference, and 11 instances of the device unexpectedly shutting down.

A company spokesman, Jamie Arnold said that to their knowledge, the defects did not contribute to the two deaths; rather one device was damaged and failure to follow directions in the other were the causes.

Welch Allyn said that customers should keep AED 10 or MRL JumpStart units in use until they receive replacements because the chance of malfunction is low.

For more information, consumers can visit http://www.welchallyn.com/AED10Recall.

Any reactions should be reported to the Food and Drug Administration's MedWatch adverse event reporting program at http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm.

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