An AED can only be used on someone with a rapid heart rate. You cannot use it on victims with an extremely slow heart rhythm or those whose heart stops beating. When the user puts the pads or electrodes on the victim's chest, the AED determines whether the victim's heart needs an electric shock or not.
If an electrical charge were to be administered at this vulnerable point in time, it is possible to induce VF by the “R-on-T phenomenon" which would result in a patient who originally had a pulse being put into cardiac arrest. For this reason, defibrillation is only performed for VF or pulseless VT.
The AED will not shock anyone by accident. You cannot hurt someone by attaching the AED if they have a pulse.
Abstract. Under current resuscitation guidelines symptomatic ventricular tachycardia (VT) with a palpable pulse is treated with synchronised cardioversion to avoid inducing ventricular fibrillation (VF), whilst pulseless VT is treated as VF with rapid administration of full defibrillation energy unsynchronised shocks.
Rhythms that are not amenable to shock include pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and asystole. In these cases, identifying primary causation, performing good CPR, and administering epinephrine are the only tools you have to resuscitate the patient.
The two shockable rhythms are ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT) while the non–shockable rhythms include sinus rhythm (SR), supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), premature ventricualr contraction (PVC), atrial fibrilation (AF) and so on.
There are two AED shockable rhythms in an electrical-related cardiac arrest: Ventricular fibrillation. Pulseless ventricular tachycardia.
“Pulse checks” should be done only after the AED indicates “no shock advised” or after the paramedic using a manual unit sees an organized rhythm. E. CPR should not be interrupted whenever possible except in cases where airway management is necessary (i.e. emesis).
The physicians and scientists at the Sarver Heart Center, have found that the old saying "Never perform CPR on beating heart" is not valid. According to these professionals, the chances that a bystander could harm a person by pressing on their chest are slim to none, even if the heart is working normally.
The AED treats only a heart in ventricular fibrillation (VF), an irregular heart rhythm. In cardiac arrest without VF, the heart doesn't respond to electric currents but needs medications. The victim needs breathing support.
Defibrillation is needed when a heart starts to beat abnormally and so fast that very little blood can be pumped out of the heart to the rest of the body. This might result in cardiac arrest.
Asystole is a non-shockable rhythm. Therefore, if asystole is noted on the cardiac monitor, no attempt at defibrillation should be made. High-quality CPR should be continued with minimal (less than five seconds) interruption. CPR should not be stopped to allow for endotracheal intubation.
If they do have a pulse but aren't breathing, give them CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) until help arrives. CPR chest compressions are important because they provide oxygenated blood flow to all parts of the body and keep organs alive until medical personnel arrive on scene.
A shockable rhythm was defined as disorganized rhythm with an amplitude > 0.1 mV or, if organized, at a rate of > or = 180 beats/min. Wavelet-based transformation and shape-based morphology detection were used for rhythm classification.
In adults, call 911 first and do the following: If the person is not breathing but has a pulse, give 1 rescue breath every 5 to 6 seconds or about 10 to 12 breaths per minute.
The two nonshockable rhythms are pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and asystole and the two shockable rhythms are pulseless ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrilation. The ECG will distinguish asystole from ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia and pulseless electrical activity.
Why not shock a PEA Arrest? In a PEA arrest, similar to Asystole, the heart doesn't have the means to use the shock you're sending it because the primary cause has yet to be corrected. Shocking a heart in PEA arrest is like kicking a comatose patient in the abdomen (which we do not recommend).
If you get a "no shock" message from the AED it can mean one of three things: the victim that you thought was pulseless does indeed have a pulse, the victim has now regained a pulse, or the victim is pulseless but is not in a "shockable" rhythm (i.e. not ventricular fibrillation).
The most common shockable rhythms associated with cardiac arrest are pulseless ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation.
A 'shockable rhythm' simply means the heart rhythm may be treated with defibrillation. If an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) detects a shockable rhythm is will recommend the rescuer delivers an electrical shock to the victim.
You will need to be able to recognize the four lethal rhythms. Asystole, Ventricle Tachycardia (VT), Ventricle Fibrillation (VF), and Polymorphic Ventricle Tachycardia (Torsade de pointes).
Sinus Bradycardia: Non-shockable
A heart rate less than 60 beats per minute (BPM). This in a healthy athletic person may be 'normal', but other causes may be due to increased vagal tone from, hypoglycaemia and brain injury with increased intracranial pressure (ICP) as examples.
Cardioversion may be recommended for some people with atrial fibrillation. It involves giving the heart a controlled electric shock to try to restore a normal rhythm. Cardioversion is usually carried out in hospital so the heart can be carefully monitored.