AED Facts – … Did You Know?

Despite the Canadian government and many public organizations adopting AED’s into their safety plans, many people still do not know what they are or how important they are in every day life. This is a problem for many reasons given that AED’s and general AED facts can help them save another person’s life.

Below are fun facts, general AED facts, and some tips and tricks for good measure.

Did you know….

• AEDs are designed to be used by laypersons who ideally should have received AED training. However, sixth-grade students have been reported to begin defibrillation within 90 seconds, as opposed to a trained operator beginning within 67 seconds.

• Bras with a metal underwire and piercings on the torso must be removed before using the AED on someone to avoid interference. American TV show Mythbusters found evidence that use of a defibrillator on a woman wearing an underwire bra can lead to arcing or fire but only in unusual and unlikely circumstances.

• A study analyzed the effects of having AEDs immediately present during Chicago’s Heart Start program over a two-year period. Of 22 individuals 18 were in a cardiac arrhythmia which AEDs can treat (Vfib or Vtach). Of these 18, 11 survived. Of these 11 patients, 6 were treated by bystanders with absolutely no previous training in AED use.

• High-rise buildings are densely populated, but are more difficult to access by emergency crews facing heavy traffic and security barriers. It has been suggested that AEDs carried on elevators could save critical minutes for cardiac arrest victims, and reduce their deployment cost.

• In order to make them highly visible, public access AEDs are often brightly colored, and are mounted in protective cases near the entrance of a building. When these protective cases are opened or the defibrillator is removed, some will sound a buzzer to alert nearby staff to their removal, though this does not necessarily summon emergency services; trained AED operators should know to phone for an ambulance when sending for or using an AED.

• All manufacturers mark their electrode pads with an expiration date, and it is important to ensure that the pads are in date. This is usually marked on the outside of the pads. Some models are designed to make this date visible through a ‘window’, although others will require the opening of the case to find the date stamp.

• Unlike regular defibrillators, an automated external defibrillator requires minimal training to use. It automatically diagnoses the heart rhythm and determines if a shock is needed. Automatic models will administer the shock without the user’s command. Semi-automatic models will tell the user that a shock is needed, but the user must tell the machine to do so, usually by pressing a button. In most circumstances, the user cannot override a “no shock” advisory by an AED.

• All AEDs approved for use in the United States use an electronic voice to prompt users through each step. Because the user of an AED may be hearing impaired, many AEDs now include visual prompts as well.

• Automated external defibrillators are now easy enough to use that most states in the United States include the “good faith” use of an AED by any person under Good Samaritan laws.

• In the year 2010, nearly 100,000 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) were sold in the U.S. and the market is expected to double every 24 months.

• If a cardiac arrest victim is shocked with a defibrillator within the first minute of collapse, the chances for survival are close to 90%. If the victim is not defibrillated until 10 minutes after collapse, the chances of survival are close to zero.

• The average EMS response time is 11 minutes while brain damage generally occurs within the first five minutes.

• CPR will not restart a heart. Instead, it manually pumps blood through the heart and enables oxygen to reach the brain. This is absolutely vital for someone experiencing cardiac arrest. According to the America Heart Association, if CPR is administered immediately, it doubles or even triples the victim’s rate of survival.

• An AED will administer a shock for two types of abnormal heart rhythms: ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. These are fatal arrhythmias, Nowak explains. While they have a high likelihood of being corrected by an AED, they also may recur, which is why it’s important to leave an AED on (while continuing to administer CPR) until emergencies services arrive.

Were there any AED facts you didn’t know before? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Sources :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_external_defibrillator

http://www.early-defib.org

http://ehstoday.com/health/life-saver-5-facts-about-cpr-and-aeds

Now that you know the AED facts, do you know which locations require the presence of a defibrillator? Is an AED mandatory for your business? Take a look at what you need to know about whether or not your location should have an AED!

Did you know that there are different types of defibrillators? It’s true! Each device serves the same purpose of ‘kicking’ the heart back into a normal beat, but each is different in the way they are used! Find out the differences here!