Why does a person having a Sudden Cardiac Arrest need an AED?
When someone collapses from an SCA, immediate CPR and use of an AED are essential for any chance of recovery. The AED analyzes the heart rhythm of the victim, and if necessary, a computerized command will instruct the user to press a button to deliver an appropriate shock to restore the normal operation of the heart. For patients in VF, studies show that if early defibrillation is provided within the first minute, there is a 90 percent probability that the persons life can be saved. For every subsequent minute, the rate of survival drops ten percent with every minute. Survival rate can improve by as much as 30 to 50 percent if CPR and AEDs were used within five minutes of collapse.
