AED = Automated External Device
An AED is a very safe and easy to use electronic device, designed to be used by anyone, with or without medical training. It automatically reads the heart rhythm of someone who may have suffered a cardiac arrest and diagnoses if an electrical shock is required to restore a normal heart rhythm. If it is required, an AED will safely deliver a controlled electrical shock to the heart.
No, you can do no harm with an AED. If someone has a cardiac arrest, they are technically already dead and without early cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation being applied, they will not survive. The quicker CPR and the use of an AED is applied, the greater the life chance.
For every minute that passes without early CPR and defibrillation, there is a 10% drop in the chances of survival. Current UK NHS Ambulances are targeted to reach people suffering a cardiac arrest within 8 minutes, nevertheless they may encounter challenges such as traffic congestion, difficult access, crowds and travelling to remote areas which can delay their arrival on scene.
The sooner cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an automated external defibrillator (AED) is used, the more effective trained medical staff can be when they arrive and the greater the chance of survival.
You will not know for sure, which is why an AED is so important. Someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest will be unresponsive, not moving and not breathing. The heart will have stopped pumping blood around the body, so someone suffering a cardiac arrest will lose consciousness almost immediately and there will be no visible signs of life – such as movement or breathing.
No, the term heart attack is often used by mistake to describe a cardiac arrest. A heart attack is when a blockage prevents blood getting to the heart. This causes death of the heart muscle, not necessarily the death of the person suffering a heart attack. A heart attack might lead to a cardiac arrest, but the terms do not mean the same thing.
A cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating unexpectedly.
Anyone can use an automated external defibrillator (AED). Untrained people have used them successfully to save a life, however, it is recommended that everyone should learn how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use an AED. Tthe UK Resusciation Council states that in an emergency when no trained operator is present, someone willing to use an AED must not be deterred from doing so.
The NHS Ambulance Services and St John’s Ambulance Service along with many other professional organisations offer training courses in the UK.
Yes. You will need to check with the manufacturer of the automated external defibrillator (AED) about any changes required to make an AED safer for children (between 1 and 8 years old). Some models of AED require settings to be changed and different electrode pads
The iPAD SP1 and iPAD SP2 have a simple switch selection to change the mode from adult to child and use the same electrode pads. These AEDs have been designed for optimum ease and speed of use in an emergency situation.
This is the term used when an automated external defibrillator (AED) is placed in a public place. This can be anywhere where people gather. Ideally this could be in areas where there is a high incidence or risk of cardiac arrest or in areas where it is hard for the Ambulance Service to access e.g rural areas, crowded areas, high traffic congestion & poor road networks (British Heart Foundation, 2014).
There is currently no legislation in place to make AED’s mandatory in the workplace.
Efforts are being made to promote the introduction of legislation to make the provision of AEDs mandatory in the workplace, schools, sports venues, and certain public buildings (UK Resuscitation Council, 2013)
This is very unlikely. In English law, for someone to be held liable it would have to be shown that the intervention had left someone in a worse situation than if there had been no intervention.
In the case of a cardiac arrest (i.e. someone is technically dead following a cardiac arrest) it is very unlikely that this would arise. No case brought against someone who tried to provide first aid has been successful in the UK, where the courts have tended to look favourably on those who try to help others (UK Resuscitation Council 2010).
In the workplace, someone using an AED will be shielded by the Employer’s Liability Insurance against any litigation if the person dies (Resuscitation Council, 2013).