Death Could Be Less Than a Heartbeat Away - Without an Automated External Defibrillator

The automated external defibrillator is, amazingly, still a device that is not commonly known about. I say amazingly, because the ailment it treats is one of the most insidious killers in the US today. That is, sudden cardiac arrest.

Heart disease comes in many forms, some brought on by bad living habits - such as eating too much fried or fatty food, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, etc. Other forms of heart disease are congenital, meaning they are present at birth. And still others, to this day are still unresolved as to their cause.

There is however, one ailment of the heart, above all others in its impact on life. That ailment, is sudden cardiac arrest. It claims over 250,000 American lives a year, and given the current eating habits in the US, looks only to get worse. I say that because our eating habits now tend to produce or accelerate heart disease.

Although sudden cardiac arrest can claim the life of anyone, young or old, sick or seemingly well, it is much more prevalent among people who already suffer one or more of the heart diseases mentioned above.

Sudden cardiac arrest, in its basic definition, is simply the cessation of regular heart activity in an individual, suddenly and unexpectedly. Its triggers can vary -- from sudden, blunt impact to the chest area (as in the case of a baseball player being hit in the chest by a baseball traveling at 90 mph), to clogged arteries, as in the case of heart attack sufferers. The outcome, however, is about 95% of the time, unchanging. Death of the victim.

This inevitability is due to the speed with which a victim dies. It is less time than would normally take a medical crew to arrive at the scene. If the victim is without a heartbeat for more than approximately 4 to 6 minutes, brain and body death begin. Between 6 and 10 minutes and you may as well read the last rites.

If a defibrillator is used, survival rates increased dramatically (up to around 75%).

What is an automated external defibrillator?

The automated external defibrillator is a machine that is easily portable and able to administer an electrical shock to the heart muscle, basically kicking it back into a regular, synchronous beating activity.

A defibrillator, until the mid-80s, would only have been found in medical facilities and medical emergency vehicles. They tended to be cumbersome, technical to operate, and could be a danger to the operator if not used correctly.

Enter the automated external defibrillator

The newest versions of these machines are small (about the size of a baseball mitt), so easy to operate a child could use one, and safe for the operator. Great technological strides indeed have been made in recent years, resulting in external automated defibrillators that can be used in the home, in the office, and in public gathering places such as stadiums, churches, sports arenas, etc.

For people who have known heart conditions, these are the best thing to come along since the invention of the wheel. They can allow them mobility with safety, and assurance in the knowledge that if cardiac arrest strikes, there is a machine at their side that any bystander or family member could use to save their life.

As you can probably tell by now, automated external defibrillators need to be in more homes, offices, and public gathering places than they currently are. To do this more public awareness is needed about the automated external defibrillator. They are actually the greatest insurance policy someone with heart disease (or even without) could have against this insidious killer.

We can reduce unnecessary deaths from SCA dramatically if more people have available to them an automated external defibrillator, and if more public officials are made aware of the need for automated external defibrillators in schools, colleges, and universities.

If you can see the urgency and need, why not forward this e-mail to your congressmen or congresswoman, and your friends and family.

It is still true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Having an automated external defibrillator available for use in a cardiac emergency is like having a pound of prevention and a ton of cure. That might be something to strive for.

Graham Hobbs is a successful Webmaster and publisher of The Automated External Defibrillator, where you can find out why a defibrillator could one day save your life.