In Australia, ambulance crews carry
sophisticated equipment which can be used to resuscitate
casualties in cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, ambulances are
sometimes not always immediately available, so some industries
and large public event coordinators provide a similar, less
sophisticated, but effective emergency service. At certain
venues and industrial workplaces, automatic electronic devices
called Automated External Defibrillators are used to provide
essential immediate treatment to any casualty in cardiac arrest.
Automated
External Defibrillation is the emergency procedure
where specially trained first aiders apply an electronic device
to the chest of a cardiac arrest casualty, and the device
automatically delivers a controlled electric shock to the
casualty's heart.
In most instances of sudden cardiac
arrest, the casualty's heart has ceased to function normally and
is fibrillating or `quivering' uselessly. While this is
happening, the heart is not pumping, so no oxygenated blood is
reaching the brain.
Application of an AED to the
casualty's chest delivers controlled shocks to the heart,
causing the fibrillation to cease and allows the heart to either
start functioning spontaneously, or provides a basis for
effective CPR and medication to restart the heart.
As discussed previously,
defibrillation is an important link in the Chain of Survival,
and statistically, a casualty's chances of successful
resuscitation are improved dramatically by the first aid use of
AEDs.
First aiders should be aware that
defibrillators, whether AEDs or the more sophisticated types,
only revert certain cardiac conditions, and there are cardiac
arrest casualties who will not respond to electric shocks.
