How to Use an Automated External Defibrillator

Chip Meyers: Hi, I am Chip Meyers with the Alexandria Fire Department. We have been talking about CPR today and we have covered how to clear an airway obstruction in a conscious person, in an unconscious person and how to perform CPR.

Next, we are going to talk about how to use an automated external defibrillator. This is an automated external defibrillator. The ones in your community may look a little bit different but they all work basically the same and you are going to find these at any place where there is mass gathering. The mall, any kind of sporting events stadium, airports and even the major airlines carry them on the airplanes and they all work pretty much the same. There is going to be an on-off button that you could press and its going to start a sequence of it.

Now, this one here we have it turned off and I am just going to talk through what it is going to say, that way I can get you all the information. So we turn it on, we have called for help. We have activated the EMS system by calling 911 or your local emergency number and now we were going to apply these patches. These patches have diagrams on them to show them where they go. So this one here goes down here underneath the breastbone and this one here goes up here with the collarbone and typically just kind of keeping the cables in towards the center.

Now, its going to tell me stand clear do not touch the patient while it analyses the rhythms. Female Speaker: Do not touch the patient. Chip Meyers: So its going through, analyzing the rhythm and its going to tell me shock advised if there in fact a shock advised. Female Speaker: Shock advised, charging, stand clear. Chip Meyers: Its very important then that you make sure nobody is touching the patient. You want to look all the way around and say I am clear, you are clear, shocking now. The reason is, if somebody is actually touching that person you could cause their heart to fibrillate and just basically put them in cardiac arrest. We have already got one patient, we dont need another.

So thats why your job is very important here. Make sure there is nobody else touching the patient. Female Speaker: Press flashing shock button, shock one delivered. It is safe to touch the patient. Begin CPR now. Chip Meyers: So we are going to go back to 30 and 2, 30 compressions, two ventilations. One, two -- just as earlier we want to do this in a cycle, five times. Five sets of 30 compressions and two ventilations and thats going to be about two minutes. You AED is going to be counting down for that entire time telling you how much time you have.

Female Speaker: Continue for one minute 30 seconds. Chip Meyers: After about two minutes its going to reanalyze the rhythm and its going to make a determination again whether another shock needs to be delivered or this person has perhaps a viable rhythm or their rhythm has gotten worsen. Its non-shockable.

Female Speaker: Stop CPR, stop now. Do not touch the patient. Analyzing heart rhythm. Do not touch the patient. No shock advised. It is safe to touch the patient. If needed, begin CPR.

Chip Meyers: If this machine says, shock not advised. We want to look around and see, are there any signs of circulation on this person? Maybe they are starting to move. Maybe their eyes are opening up. Maybe they start breathing on their own. If this occurs then we are going to stay with them, we are going to monitor them. We also want to be prepared in case they throw up to rotate them on to their side and sweep out their mouth.

Some machines are fully automated. This one is semi automated in that it requires you to push the shock button. Some machines will actually deliver the shock all on its own. Very important then to make sure that there is nobody touching the patient when it gets ready to do that. It is very important that if a situation like this occurs, one of these kinds of emergencies that you take some form of action. Anything is better than nothing. But if you do nothing this patient is going to die. So its very important to jump in there and help out with early defibrillation, early CPR and early advance life support, getting the 911 to you. Survival rates have been around 40-60% on the average. Without early AED each minute that persons chance of survival drops by about 10%.

So, these first aid skills hopefully, you have learned something here thats useful. Hope you dont have to use them but if you are ever called upon using these CPR skills, I hope you could be able to save somebodys life.