Defibrillators – Did you know…?

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Did you know that the job of a defibrillator is to STOP all electrical activity of the heart?

In a cardiac arrest, the heart’s electrical pattern becomes dysfunctional, resulting in inadequate or no pumping of blood to the rest of the body.

Defibrillators examine the electrical activity of a person experiencing a cardiac emergency to determine whether a shock should be given to STOP the chaotic and incorrect electrical activity, thereby allowing the heart to effectively “re-boot” (just like a computer sometimes needs to be given the chance  to re-boot its operating system by turning the system off temporarily).

Defibrillators are safe for “lay people” (non-doctors) to use because they take care of analyzing the victim’s heart activity and will NOT allow a shock to be delivered if it is not appropriate in the situation.

Consider taking a course in CPR and the use of an AED to become more familiar with this amazing life-saving technology.