What are AED’s?
Top An Automated External Defibrillator is a device that can be attached to your chest. It senses your heart’s rhythm during cardiac arrest and, in some cases, delivers and electric shock to get your heart beating again. Cardiac arrest most commonly occurs when your heart’s electrical activity becomes disrupted and the heart beat becomes dangerously fast (ventricular tachycardia) or chaotic (ventricular fibrillation). Because of this irregular heart rhythm, 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 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.
