There's a hero inside you. When someone is in cardiac arrest, you can save their life. You do not need medical training. If you can follow pictorial directions, you can do this. All you need is an automated external defibrillator (AED).
"AEDs analyze a deadly heart rhythm and can save somebody's life. And anybody can use one. Nobody should be intimidated about using an AED," says Daniel O'Connor, MD, a cardiologist at ColumbiaDoctors and associate professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
AEDs are becoming more commonplace since Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field during a football game. AEDs are small, portable devices already stored in many public places-stores, restaurants, offices, schools, airports-ready to be used. But many people are unaware of them or afraid to use one.
We asked O'Connor what it takes to use an AED, why it works, and why we should have no fear.
When is an AED needed?
When someone is in cardiac arrest-which most often involves them falling and always means they do not have a pulse-they need an AED to get their heart beating again. You may have seen this on TV lately, when Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin had a cardiac arrest during a game. His recovery is in part due to the use of an AED.
AEDs help get a heart rhythm back to normal and restore circulating blood to all the major organs, especially the brain.
What is an automated external defibrillator (AED)?
An AED is a small medical device that analyzes a heart's rhythm and delivers an electrical shock (defibrillation), if needed, to help re-establish a steady rhythm.
AEDs are special because you do not need to be a doctor to use them. You just need to attach it to a person you think is having cardiac arrest, as fast as you can, to save somebody's life.
The AED will determine whether someone needs a shock. The machine only recognizes life-threatening heart rhythms as shock-worthy. No other rhythm would be helped by defibrillation so no shock is delivered in other cases. That's why you cannot hurt someone with an AED.
An AED is so smart it won't cause harm if you're wrong because it won't deliver a shock?
Right. AEDs actually speak to you. The device will say "shock not appropriate" or something similar, depending on the model, if it's not appropriate to use. You cannot hurt someone.
The AED will analyze the heart's electrical activity and will only defibrillate if it needs to. It will not defibrillate if the heart rhythm is not what's called a shockable rhythm.
How do you use an AED?
- Turn it on.
