Automated External Defibrillator
Defibrillators are the magic boxes that deliver a controlled electric shock that helps to get a heart that has gone into an irregular lethal rhythm back into a normal one. Increasingly more of them are now being placed in strategic locations across the country; in shopping malls, airports, businesses, factories and offices. It is estimated that there are approximately 10,000 of them out and about in the UK.
Historically only those who have been trained to use one could do so. However since the latest guidelines on resuscitation have been published there is a greater emphasis on anyone being able to use one if it is available, although obviously having some training helps.
Ok I hear you say, what do they do, how do they work and are they really easy to use?
First – The Basics:
The heart pumps blood around the human body, delivering oxygen to all its vital organs. When someone has a heart attack, very often the damage causes their heart to go into an abnormal rhythm, the most common of which is ventricular fibrillation. This rhythm means that the heart cannot pump blood round the body, and if left untreated, the patient will die. Every minute that the heart is not pumping, the chances of survival reduce by about 10%.
Research shows…
Research has shown that if an AED can be attached to a person whose heart has stopped and a shock delivered within the first few minutes of an arrest, the chances of success are high, at about 70%. This is obviously good news as approximately 30,000 suffer a cardiac arrest, where the heart stops, each year. By the way, without an AED, chances are more like 2% to 5%.
AEDs are very simple to use and the good news is that anyone can use them. Just turn them on and listen carefully to the automated instructions, which will tell you how and when to activate the device, and when to continue CPR.
Have a go
Next time you find a collapsed non breathing casualty try CPR and if there is an AED about don’t be afraid to use it. It isn’t possible to hurt someone by using it. The machines are programmed only to deliver shocks to those who are in a shockable rhythm like ventricular fibrillation and will not discharge a shock unless that is the case.
So have a go and remember you might just save a life!
For further reading see:
http://www.resus.org.uk/pages/aed.pdf
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1329133/Defibrillators-Now-start-heart.html
Contact HTS Training to book an in-house AED course, or order a defib for your workplace
The Author
Heather Sawyer is a Registered Nurse, First Aid Trainer and Director of Training at HTS Training Ltd, a specialist provider of first aid training courses for businesses and individuals.
