A new center housed at the University of Pittsburgh wants to ensure that everyone who suffers from sudden cardiac arrest has immediate access to automated external defibrillators.

To help communities and organizations learn how they can set up successful aed programs, the National Center for Early Defibrillation was established at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Emergency Medicine and the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania. The nced is the only national clearinghouse dedicated to providing comprehensive information on aeds.

"We wanted to establish the center in order to address a serious problem in the United States: lives being lost to sudden cardiac death. Furthermore, as an academic department of emergency medicine, the center also fits into our educational mission," said Paul Paris, M.D., chairman of the department of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and associate medical director of the nced.

The nced is an independent, nonprofit resource and advocacy center dedicated to improving survival from sudden cardiac arrest. A group of resuscitation experts serve as advisors, and a network for survivors will also be established to provide rehabilitative and psychological support services.

The center's Web site provides manufacturer-neutral information about different devices, the latest reports and legislative news, as well as guidance for schools, businesses or municipalities wanting to learn how to establish an aed program. In the future, information packets will be designed to meet the needs of special audiences, including ems and public safety agencies, civic organizations, and heart patients and their families.

For more information, call 866-aed-info or go to . We've received several e-mails from readers who took offense at the headline on November's Lex de Incendiis column, "The case of the conservative Christian and the chief." These complaints focused on the fact that Ron Greer's religious beliefs were never explicitly referred to in the column.

I apologize to any readers who found that headline misleading or negative. Although Chief Stittleburg did not specifically state so in the article, the court's opinion quoted a Capital Times news report describing Greer as "a pastor of a conservative Christian church."

I committed a journalistic error by not making that fact explicit.

Due to a potential safety problem, Total Fire Group is implementing a voluntary recall of Ranger leather boot models #3042, #3044 and #3045 and Servus leather boot models #6004, #6006 and #6008 with a manufacturing date (printed on the inside label) from Jan. 1-Oct. 30, 1999.

Although these boots were independently certified at the time of sale, follow-up testing has revealed a potential for leakage under extreme conditions that may result in water, chemical or viral penetration of the boot.

Recalled boots will be replaced at no charge with nfpa 1971 - compliant replacement leather boots. To obtain replacement boots, customers are asked to cut out the label that contains the model/style number and dates of manufacture from both boots and return the labels. If recalled boots are found in fire department inventory, arrangements to return them can be made directly with the Total Fire Group recall desk.

Before cutting the labels out, customers should verify that the production date is within the recall range and that the word "replacement" isn't stamped on the label. If the date is illegible, contact the recall desk.

Labels should be returned with a "Request for Recalled Product Replacement Form," available at or by calling the recall desk at 800-688-6148.