Causes (2)
- Long QT syndrome
- Sick sinus syndrome
Complications (2)
- Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs)
- Atrial fibrillation
Prevention (1)
- Automated external defibrillators: Do you need an AED?
Symptoms (3)
- Tachycardia
- Bradycardia
- Symptom Checker
Tests and diagnosis (2)
- Holter monitor
- Electrocardiogram
Treatments and drugs (4)
- Cardioversion
- Cardiac ablation
- Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs)
- see all in Treatments and drugs
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Automated external defibrillators: Do you need an AED?
An AED may save your life during cardiac arrest. Weigh the pros and cons to see if you should get one.
By Mayo Clinic staffIf you've ever watched medical shows on television, you've probably seen people on the brink of death shocked back to life by a doctor who yells "clear," then delivers one or more jolts of electricity to the chest.
You can perform this type of procedure in your own home with an automated external defibrillator (AED). But AEDs aren't for everyone. An AED won't resuscitate you if you don't have the specific type of heart rhythm problem that an AED can correct. And in some circumstances, other emergency medical procedures, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), may be just as likely to save your life as shocks from an AED.
Home AEDs are available over-the-counter, without a prescription. The question is whether an automated external defibrillator could be useful to you. Consider the pros and cons of owning an AED. Then you and your doctor can decide if it's worth buying the device for home use.
When would you need to use an AED?
Cardiac arrest usually occurs when your heart's electrical activity becomes disrupted and the heartbeat gets dangerously fast (ventricular tachycardia) or chaotic (ventricular fibrillation). Because of this chaotic, irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia), your heart stops beating effectively and can't adequately pump blood.
During cardiac arrest, your brain and other vital organs quickly become starved of blood and the life-sustaining oxygen and nutrients it carries. You could die within a few minutes, or if you survive, you may sustain permanent damage to your brain and other organs. The sooner your heart's rhythm is restored the better, since each minute is critical to determining your chance of survival and how much damage you might have.
Although cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a vital step in the lifesaving process and can keep some blood flowing to your heart and brain for a short time, often only defibrillation can restore the heart's normal rhythm and ultimately save your life. This is especially true if you experience a type of abnormal heart rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation.
If you're experiencing ventricular fibrillation and an AED is on hand, a bystander could grab it and easily connect it to your chest to check your heart rhythm. If your heart rhythm can be treated with an electric shock, the AED automatically sends an electrical current to your heart muscle. That jolt could reset your heart back into a normal rhythm, possibly saving your life.
If you use an AED on someone, it's still critical that you call 911 or your local emergency services to get help on the way before you begin using the AED.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an over-the-counter AED for home use. Because it's over-the-counter, you don't need a prescription to buy it. The only automated external defibrillator approved for home use without a prescription is the Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator. The HeartStart AED can be used on children as young as 8 who weigh at least 55 pounds.
Putting AEDs where you need them most
In addition to being carried by police and ambulance crews, AEDs are now commonly available in many public places, including malls, office buildings, sports arenas, golf courses, cruise ships, schools, casinos, airports and airplanes.
The problem, though, is many cardiac arrests happen in private homes. With an automated external defibrillator in your home, you wouldn't lose precious minutes waiting for rescue workers to arrive with an AED.
Proponents of in-home AEDs say putting them where they're most needed will save thousands of lives each year. If you collapse from cardiac arrest, a family member or friend could quickly grab your home AED, send a jolt of electricity to your heart and, in theory, save your life.
But critics argue there's no reliable evidence that home defibrillators actually save more lives. Critics also fear that people won't call for emergency medical services at all or quickly enough, that they won't maintain their AED properly, or that they'll forget where it's kept.
Next page(1 of 2)
- What is an automated external defibrillator? American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/112082979566711%20ABH%20WhtIsAutomatedExtrnlDefib.pdf. Accessed April 30, 2009.
- AED programs Q&A. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3011859. Accessed May 5, 2009.
- Sudden cardiac arrest. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/scda/scda_all.html. Accessed April 30, 2009.
- Estes NAM. Automated external defibrillators in the public domain: Am I ready to use one? Circulation. 2005;112:e340.
- Callan DJ. Can home AEDs improve survival? New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;358:1853.
- Bardy GH, et al. Home use of automated external defibrillators for sudden cardiac arrest. 2008;358:1793.
- New device clearance: Philips HeartStart Home OTC Defibrillator. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/mda/docs/k040904.html. Accessed April 30, 2009.
