It is possible to restart a heart that is in asystole using a defibrillator provided other interventions (e.g. intra-cardiac adrenaline, CPR) are also applied with absolutely no delay, and the cause of the asystole is known. In this case that would be unlikely, but it is a moot point, because if asystole has just occurred, it is impossible to diagnose without an ECG observation of a "flat line". A combination of CPR and intra-cardiac drugs can induce a rhythm that will respond to defibrillation. Many onboard defibrillators are automatic and don't have the same functionality (including ECG monitoring) as clinical defibrillators, therefore if asystole was present, the crew would not have known it, so the attempt to restart the heart using a defibrillator was appropriate.
Last edited by deadhead; 5th Sep 2011 at 11:08.