Automatic External Defibrillators
Automatic External Defibrillators
Every year 250,000 or more people with cardiovascular disease die within an hour of symptom onset and before they arrive at a hospital. With appropriate early defibrillation and follow-up treatment many people who might have died can now live. Nurses are key health care professionals for using automatic external defibrillators in hospitals and for teaching other first responders -- inside and outside hospitals -- how to use automatic external defibrillators. Features of automatic and semiautomatic external defibrillators are reviewed as well as ethical considerations for the use of automatic external defibrillators.
Probably nothing has affected traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as much as the development of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). In fact, these relatively new devices not only have resulted in changed protocols concerning CPR procedures, but also have led to some controversy about who should operate defibrillators and manage AED programs.
According to American Heart Association statistics, coronary heart disease caused over 475,000 deaths in 1996 and is believed to be the leading cause of death in America today. One reason AED proponents would like to change the statistics is that approximately one sixth of those who die of cardiovascular disease are under the age of 65. Moreover, every year, approximately 250,000 people with cardiovascular disease die within 1 hour of onset of symptoms and before they reach a hospital. Help needs to be given quickly -- generally before victims even get to the hospital. Because ventricular fibrillation is the primary cause of sudden cardiac arrest, prompt resuscitation and prevention of recurrence of ventricular fibrillation are necessary. Defibrillation can increase survival rates dramatically if administered within the first few minutes.
Statistics also show that early CPR and early defibrillation combined with early advanced care can result in long-term survival rates for witnessed ventricular fibrillation, as high as 40%. The purposes of this paper are to describe the importance of AEDs, the role of cardiovascular nurses with respect to AEDs, and the types of AEDs currently available.
Every year 250,000 or more people with cardiovascular disease die within an hour of symptom onset and before they arrive at a hospital. With appropriate early defibrillation and follow-up treatment many people who might have died can now live. Nurses are key health care professionals for using automatic external defibrillators in hospitals and for teaching other first responders -- inside and outside hospitals -- how to use automatic external defibrillators. Features of automatic and semiautomatic external defibrillators are reviewed as well as ethical considerations for the use of automatic external defibrillators.
Probably nothing has affected traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as much as the development of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). In fact, these relatively new devices not only have resulted in changed protocols concerning CPR procedures, but also have led to some controversy about who should operate defibrillators and manage AED programs.
According to American Heart Association statistics, coronary heart disease caused over 475,000 deaths in 1996 and is believed to be the leading cause of death in America today. One reason AED proponents would like to change the statistics is that approximately one sixth of those who die of cardiovascular disease are under the age of 65. Moreover, every year, approximately 250,000 people with cardiovascular disease die within 1 hour of onset of symptoms and before they reach a hospital. Help needs to be given quickly -- generally before victims even get to the hospital. Because ventricular fibrillation is the primary cause of sudden cardiac arrest, prompt resuscitation and prevention of recurrence of ventricular fibrillation are necessary. Defibrillation can increase survival rates dramatically if administered within the first few minutes.
Statistics also show that early CPR and early defibrillation combined with early advanced care can result in long-term survival rates for witnessed ventricular fibrillation, as high as 40%. The purposes of this paper are to describe the importance of AEDs, the role of cardiovascular nurses with respect to AEDs, and the types of AEDs currently available.
Source...