What is an AED?
AED stands for External Automated Defibrillator. It is a safe and easy to use system that in Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) provides a therapeutic electric shock to the heart as a treatment for a patient. AEDs are mobile and often mounted, much like a fire extinguisher, on the walls of public places and businesses across UK.
Why Do We Use AEDs?
The heart stops unexpectedly during SCA, and the heart goes into a deadly rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation in 90 per cent of cases. The only way to correct ventricular fibrillation is by applying an electric shock to the heart to defibrillate. AEDs provide access to defibrillators for the general public. Individuals with no medical education can use them on a victim of any generation. CPR & First Aid qualification classes, CPR upgrade classes, as well as CPR teacher courses are becoming more common in AED training. AED preparation may even be a necessity upon the release of new CPR standards in 2015.
Brief History of AEDs
Some consider Claude Beck, Professor at Case Western Reserve University, to be the godfather of defibrillation. He successfully used an electric shock in 1947 to restore a normal rhythm to a 14 year old boy’s heart. HeartSine Technologies founder Professor John Anderson is credited with creating the first portable defibrillator at Belfast in 1966. I] This unit was compact but nothing like the AEDs we see today because it weighed 110 pounds and was powered by a car battery. It’s uncertain when exactly the first AED was invented but it’s believed that the first unit was invented by Arch Diack, a surgeon from Portland, Oregon[ii]. Sources put the year 1980 as the probable one.
What is AED Certification?
AED certification is an optional feature offered when CPR & First Aid Certification is obtained. AED training may even become a prerequisite with the release of new CPR guidelines in 2015. An AED skills test is required in front of a trained CPR teacher. Two groups of audiences are catered for AED and CPR certification: health care providers / professional emergency responders and neighborhood or workplace respondents.
How do I get AED, CPR & First Aid Certification?
AED and CPR are really easy to learn but many people aren’t sure where to get AED certification CPR courses. To get AED accredited contact a regional training provider to find and schedule a class in your region with a teacher. You may need to go to the location of the instructor or a teacher can come to your location if you have a party. Education companies that offer CPR Instructor courses are nationally recognized. The standard AED and CPR course takes about four hours to complete and includes practical training and skills testing to be licensed. More advanced and reliable services often require a formal review.
Where Do AED Guidelines Come From?
Today, the AED protocol is based on new recommendations from CPR, which come from a range of international expertise. A bi-annual CPR-related authorities conference is held to gather and review studies and determine what works to enhance the results of cardiac arrests. New CPR protocols are published every five years that are revised with the most beneficial research and science is translated into new rescuer training materials and techniques.
In 1992, the International Resuscitation Liaison Committee (ILCOR) was created to provide a forum for cooperation between major resuscitation organizations around the world
How To Use an AED
First, on AED control. An AED may be used on an adult, baby or boy. Follow the instructions on the AED. Place the AED near the head and power of the patient onto the device. Many versions allow that you press a button to turn it on while others automatically switch on when you lift the lid. Third, the AED pads apply. Expose the chest and wipe any moisture away dry. According to the pads add the pads to the arm.
Put one pad on the right of the chest just below the collarbon Place the other pad on the bottom left of the chest Connect the pads to the AED when not attached if two emergency units are qualified, one is CPR while the other is preparing the AED for use. The rescuer responsible for the AED must place the pads around the hands of the person who gives chest compressions. Do not interrupt CPR while the AED is ready for use. The AED will advise you to avoid CPR when the heart rhythm is ready to be analysed.
Third, the victim and the shock obvious. It is critical that while the AED analyzes or provides a shock, nobody touches the victim or his clothes. If instructed by the AED to administer a shock: The AED operator scans up and down the entire victim quickly to ensure that no one approaches him and urgently says, “All clear.” Now the rescuer can press the shock button.
AED Use on Children
A child is 1-8 years of age or weighs less than 55 lbs for AED use. A kid is under 1 year old. Children and children need less energy to defibrillate the heart.
Child victim: using AED with pads or devices for pediatric use. Use an AED with adult pads and settings if these are not available.
Infant victim: A manual defibrillator is best used. Use an AED with pediatric pads or supplies if one is not available. Use an AED with adult pads and settings if these are not available.