Safety Tips: Cardiac Emergencies and Defibrillators

Defibrillating a patient is only effective in a very specific type of cardiac arrest. In this scenario, there is some electrical activity in the heart, but no heartbeat. Defibrillation works by delivering an electrical shock to the heart muscle in an effort to reset the heartbeat.

Using the defibrillator with the wrong type of cardiac arrest can be ineffective at best and potentially deadly at worst. The machine can cause injury or death to the operator (and any other living person in contact with the machine or patient) if not properly used. In all cases, though, if defibrillation is going to work, it must be done very soon after the onset of cardiac arrest, ideally within four minutes. For every minute of delay, the chance of survival drops about 10 percent.

The medical world came to the conclusion that early defibrillation was probably the most significant link in the chain of survival for many cardiac arrest victims. Still, the machine is crucial to saving those lives, and it could only be used by professionals. By the time those professionals were called and were able to arrive and assess the patient, it was often too late for defibrillation to be effective.

As a solution, the development of a defibrillator that could be used by virtually everyone was created. The Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) was born. The AED has been around for years, but only for use by first responders with some training, like police officers and non-paramedic firefighters. Nowadays, the AED has evolved so that it can be used by almost anyone with just minimal training.

The new AED talks to the operator and explains in very simple and straightforward terms exactly how to proceed. The shocking pads no longer have to be held onto the patient; they are now sticky pads with cords attached to the machine. Placement instructions are illustrated on the pads. The machine then determines the correct power, reminds the operator to make sure there is no physical contact with the patient and then advises precisely when to push the shock button. It even offers cues to call 911 and begin CPR when appropriate.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue offers free Health Emergency Life Protection (HELP) interactive, two-hour life-saving workshops that teach participants how to recognize the most common life-threatening emergencies and begin medical care until more advanced care providers arrive. Visit the HELP awareness course if you would like information, which includes cardiac emergencies and defibrillator training.