Emergency
First Response
Automated External Defibrillators
A step by step training guide for
the use of AED's in cardiac arrest.
Heart attach is a very common cause
of death. A severe heart attack often results in cardiac arrest.
In this case, the heart usually beats very erratically and
cannot generate circulation of blood to the body. If a normal
heartbeat is not restored within a few minutes the victim will
die.
Automated external defibrillators
(AED's) are designed to diagnose cardiac arrest and, when
appropriate, to deliver an electric shock to try to restore a
normal heart rhythm.
They can be used safely by people
with minimal training. 
For a long time, defibrillators
were only found in hospitals. However, eventually they began to
be included on some ambulances in certain places to be taken to
victims of out-of hospital cardiac arrest.
Advances in technology enabled
defibrillators to become smaller and much easier to operate and
they are now standard issue to ambulances in most developed
countries.
AEDs are computerized devices that
incorporate a program that is designed to detect and analyze a
person’s hart rhythm. It will then instruct the operator to
deliver electric shocks to the heart, if appropriate. If a
potentially lethal heart rhythm such as ventricular fibrillation
or ventricular tachycardia is detected the rescuer is advised to
press the SHOCK button. However, this must only be done if the
victim is unresponsive and without signs of circulation.
AEDs are becoming far more commonly
available and lay first aid provider’s are now encouraged to
learn how to operate them.
The current generation of devices
is generally compact, reliable and simple to operate. They are
designed so that they can be used safely and effectively by lay
rescuers with minimal training.
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