Heart-healthy highways.

• Author: SerVaas, Cory

Intrigued by a July/August 2001 Post article about equipping cars with defibrillators, Patricia Moore shared the novel concept with her husband, Thomas Moore, vice president of Daimler-Chrysler's Liberty and Technical Affairs research group. Tom followed up on the idea, and a concept car equipped with the life-saving device was introduced to American audiences in 2002. We talked with Mrs. Moore to learn more about her role in launching a new way to save more lives with defibrillators.

"While I was reading The Saturday Evening Post, I came across an article about new uses for defibrillators and the importance of getting them in more places," she explained. "I thought, I can't imagine anybody that would have a better chance than my husband to figure out whether there was a way to put it in a car."

Mrs. Moore knows that sudden cardiac arrest can strike anyone, anyplace, and at any time.

"Tom was in a meeting once and someone had a heart attack," she recalled. "They kept him alive with CPR. I heard of a 46-year-old man who had a heart attack and had a stent put in. Recently, there was an article in the Detroit News about a trooper in Sheboygan, Michigan. He was instrumental in equipping all first-response vehicles in the area with defibrillators. Then he had a heart attack, and one of those 12 units saved his life. Things do happen, and not just to older people."

Tom Moore read the Post article and took it into work.

"Several months late1; he brought the magazine home and mentioned they were going to put defibrillators in some cars," Mrs. Moore reported. "Tom's work in advance design occurs some years prior to actual production. He and his colleagues develop designs and then gauge the response from the public.

"In this case, Tom presented the idea of a defibrillator-equipped car to media from all over the world. Based on an informal survey, those present who were young did not think much of the idea. Those over 50, however, thought it was an interesting concept."

The first defibrillator-equipped car is a Jeep Grand Cherokee Concierge.

"Concierge refers to a group of safety options--like the defibrillator--that are helpful to people,"...