Originally Posted by
Magplug
There are several types of cardiac arrest. In the case of ventricular tachycardia (beating too fast) or ventricular fibrillation (fast & irregular) swift intervention with an AED can save life. I have had 3 medical emergencies onboard where the crew administered the AED only to be told "Do Not Shock" as the device figured out for itself that the patient was not one the 'shockable' conditions. I am told by a doctor friend that in general, the chances of surviving a heart attack outside a hospital environment are fairly low.
I speak as someone with personal experience of an out of hospital heart attack; I had a 5% chance of survival. Luckily, though, I collapsed about 10 feet away from an off duty paramedic who began CPR within seconds, after sending someone to collect an AED from a nearby pharmacy. Within six minutes, I was awake and lucid (albeit with a very sore ribcage!).
I understand that the AED is not used to re-start the heart (as I suspect most of us thought) but actually to stop it from the fibrillation that occurs, enabling the heart to re-start its normal rhythm.
Moral of this story; as many people as possible should learn how to do CPR...