An automatic external defibrillator or AED is a portable, lightweight device that administers a shock to any individual who is experiencing cardiac arrest. AEDs are versatile, reliable, and designed to be used by professionals as well as people with zero medical experience. AEDs are designed to detect your heart’s rhythm and determine whether it needs intervention. They include automatic voice and visual directions that can guide the person using them to give an electric shock. The process of electrically shocking a person’s heart to restart it is called defibrillation. AED advantage explains why AEDs are important and what they can do.
Why are AEDs Important? What Can They Do?
AEDs can help you save lives. They are an important part of responding to cardiac arrest. Your chance of surviving drops by 7 – 10% every minute your heart isn’t working normally. AED and immediate CPR can double, or sometimes triple, your chances of survival. Ideally, AEDs should be used every time someone performs CPR.
Who Can Use AEDs?
AEDs are meant to be used by the general public who don’t have any medical knowledge. They are easy to use, portable, accurate, and safe. Non-medical professionals like security guards, policemen, firefighters, and flight attendants are trained to use AEDs. Anyone else trained in CPR can also use them. Though you may not require formal training to use an AED, it is recommended to help increase your confidence and familiarize yourself with the machine.
How Does an AED Work?
AEDs use voice, text, and light prompts to tell you when you should or should not deliver a shock. Most AEDs have two sets of pads – child pads and adult pads. Anyone one year or older, who has not gone through puberty, will be considered a child for CPR. However, for defibrillation, you must use adult pads for anyone who is eight years or older. You must follow the steps given below when using an AED:
- Switch on the AED and follow the audio instructions
- Ensure no clothing covers the patient’s chest. If required, wipe the chest dry
- Remove the pads’ backing and attach them to the individual’s bare chest.
- Plug the AED and pads connector, if necessary
- The AED will then determine if the patient needs to be shocked and will automatically give one or prompt you to give one. Ensure no one touches the person when the AED is determining the person’s condition.
- If no shock is required, you can resume CPR. If a shock is required, make sure no one is touching the person and press the shock button and immediately resume CPR.
- Continue CPR till the medical emergency personnel come to the scene
What Should You Consider When Using an AED?
Certain situations may require special care when using AEDs. You must consider the following special considerations on pediatric patients, sweaty or wet patients, patients with a hairy chest, patients who have an implantable defibrillator or pacemaker, and patients with a medical patch:
- When treating pediatric patients, you must ensure you give them a reduced electric shock if they are less than 8 years old or weigh less than 55 pounds. If you don’t have child pads, you can use adult pads, but place one pad in the chest’s center and the second in the back’s center. For infants who are less than 12 months old, you may use a manual defibrillator rather than an automated one.
- You must take extra care when using an AED on a patient who is sweating or wet. Since water is a great conductor of electricity, the power of the electric shock can spread through the individual’s body. If the patient is lying in the water, ensure you move them away, wipe the chest dry, and then use the AED.
- If the patient has a lot of chest hair, the electrode pad may not be able to determine heart rate and deliver a correctly timed shock. Hence, you must either shave off the area of the chest where the patch will be placed, push down hard on the electrodes to improve conductivity, or pull the pad quickly off the individual’s chest so that it pulls off some hair along with it as well.
- Medication patches are at risk of burning when used with an AED. Ensure you remove the medication patch before using the AED on the patient. You must also remove any sticky substance from the individual’s skin before applying the patch.
- You must take care not to place the AED over the pacemaker or the defibrillator as it can prevent the delivery of the shock. You can, instead, keep the pad lower a few inches or try a front and back placement of the patches.
AEDs play a critical role in saving people’s lives during cardiac arrest. If you have undergone AED training or want to, and want to purchase AEDs, then contact AED Advantage Sales Ltd. They offer various types of AEDs and AED kits that you can purchase and keep handy. They offer spare parts, batteries, and electrodes and provide training as well.
