What does defibrillation and AED mean?
The medically correct term most often associated with cardio-pulmonary arrest is Ventricular Fibrillation (VF). VF occurs when the heart stops its rhythmic beating pattern and goes into a chaotic pattern that does not produce a pulse or blood pressure. Defibrillation is an attempt to deliver an electrical shock to the heart to stop the chaotic pattern and allow the heart’s normal electrical activity to resume. An AED, or Automated External Defibrillator, is a device that is placed on the patient to analyzes the heart rhythm. The AED then delivers the appropriate energy to accomplish defibrillation. The AED is programmed to shock only patients in ventricular fibrillation and it will not shock someone with a normal heartbeat. Even if you can not feel a pulse, but the AED detects normal electrical activity, it will not shock the patient.
