Indianapolis Indiana CPR Health and Safety Training

Everything you ever wanted to know about the AED

Why Should We Use Them?

Based on statistics from 1999, sudden cardiac death (SCD) kills at least 400,000 - 460,000 people each year. This staggering number is more than the total deaths from all forms of cancer combined. These are the numbers we are faced with when considering the effectiveness of early defibrillation in the pre-hospital setting.

People commonly use the terms "Heart Attack" and "Cardiac Arrest" synonymously. the reality is, these two disorders are quite different. A "Heart Attack" is related to a blockage of coronary vessels around the heart. This blockage leads to damage to the heart because of a lack of blood supply to the effected region. "Cardiac Arrest" is an electrical anomaly. For one reason or another, effective electrical conduction to the heart stops and if not treated rapidly, the victim will die.

In the past, CPR has been the treatment for SCD. The victim is administered oxygen while the chest wall is compressed, causing the heart to be compressed and forcing blood through the heart to deliver the oxygen. Whether or not blood is actually moved through the body, and oxygen is actually delivered to the heart is dependant upon the quality of CPR given. While this treatment is certainly better than none, it is usually not very effective, and the survival rate is less than 5%.

An AED is proven to be a much more effective form of treatment for SCD. Since the most common rhythm during SCD is Ventricular Fibrillation, a fluttering of the ventricles of the heart due to an unorganized electrical activity of the heart, CPR has very little effect and the victim eventually dies due to lack of oxygenation. If the rescuer had used an AED the outcome would possibly be much different.

Defibrillation with an AED has shown results that far outweigh the "Less than 5%" survival rate of CPR alone. As high as 90% of SCD victims respond to defibrillation, and upwards of 40% survive to go home. These results are based on studies involving victims the received defibrillation within 4 minutes of a SCD. Defibrillation is most effective when used as soon after an arrest as possible. The chance of success decreases by seven to ten percent for every minute of the SCD without defibrillation.

With these glaring differences, you can definitely see why having an AED with trained personnel nearby is so important. they are especially important to have in areas where people are concentrated in higher numbers, because the odds of someone having a SCD obviously increase with more population.