How easy is it to use an AED?

In Bohemia, NY, a team of Emergency Medical responders received a call that a man was having a seizure at a local factory.  When the team arrived they checked the man and found that he was not breathing and didn’t have a pulse.  Like any good EMS team, they carried an AED.

A couple of them began performing CPR while another hooked up the AED.  As soon as the AED was hooked up, it analyzed the man and instructed them that he needed a shock.  They continued treatment while they brought him to the ambulance and on the way to the hospital, the man regained consciousness.  The team’s efforts were successful and the man fully recuperated after a few days in the hospital.

Although there are many stories like this one, there is a detail in this one worthy of pointing out.  The EMS team did not have to be experts on checking pulses or other vital signs to know that the victim needed shocks from the AED.  The AED did all of that for them.

AEDs are amazing life-saving machines that are built so anybody could use them.  There was a time when to save someone’s life with a defibrillator you had to go through hours of training.  Although training is certainly beneficial, it is not necessary.  If someone is suffering from sudden cardiac arrest, anyone standing by has the power to save that person’s life with an AED handy.  The thing that will not help the person is hesitation.  AEDs are built so that young or old, novice or expert, all have the ability to save someone’s life.