The Ingenious Defibrillator is a Life-Saving Machine
A defibrillator is a machine used to shock the heart back into a
regular pattern when the heart goes into ventricular
defibrillation or ventricular tachycardia. Both of these
conditions can threaten a person's life and cause a person to
pass out when the heart stops beating and pumping blood to the
body. This is when cardiac arrest happens and a defibrillator
can save a persons life.
There are automatic defibrillators that can be used in cases of
emergency where a professional medical person is not around. You
do have to have some training to use one of these, mostly
because there is some risk to the person that's using it and
others that may be near him/her. This comes in the form of
getting a nasty shock by touching the person's body while they
are using the defibrillator. There is also danger to the patient
if this is used without the proper training in the form of blood
clots, burns to the patients skin, and an abnormal heart beat.
If a patient still has a pulse, a defibrillator should never be
used so as you can see there is an extensive amount of knowledge
that has to go along with this life saving device.
Ventricular defibrillation occurs when the electrical activity
of the heart goes wrong and this can be very serious indeed. The
lower chamber of the heart contracts rapidly. As a result, the
ventricles do not beat but only flutter causing very little
blood to pump through the heart. If a defibrillator is not used
the patient will die and this can happen within minutes and
sometimes seconds of the attack. If you are around when this
happens to someone and there is no medical help available, call
for help immediately.
When a heart attack happens, if there is action taken
immediately, there is a very good chance of that person
surviving, but the only way this can happen is if the patient
has access to a defibrillator. Heart attacks are the leading
cause of death and two out of three times a person will die if
they can't get help with a defibrillator. This will tell you
just how important this device is.
If you are near someone that is having an episode of cardiac
arrest, then there are some steps you can take to try and help
this person if there is no professional help nearby. Position
the head of the patient so that it is in line with the rest of
the body. This helps the person that is in distress breathe
better. Try to locate a pulse by placing your fingers on the
carotid artery in the neck. Start the procedure of
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions. This has to
be continued until you can get medical help.
When the paramedics arrive they will use a defibrillator to get
the patient's heart started again by delivering some quick
electric shocks to the heart with a defibrillator machine. In
the meantime by doing life giving mouth to mouth you may give
this patient another chance at life by taking these life saving
measures.