FAST FACTS
AED FAST FACTS (AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION)
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More than 15% of Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OHCAs) occur in a public location; therefore, public access AEDs and community training have a large role to play in early defibrillation.
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Inside the AED box are pads and a diagram that shows where to place them on the bare skin. Once the device is turned on, a voice tells the person using it exactly what to do.
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The first thing the AED will do is determine whether an electric shock is needed by analyzing the person's heart rhythm. CPR should be stopped only while the machine is doing this analysis. If no shock is advised, it will tell you to resume CPR. If there is a shockable rhythm, it will deliver the shock and afterwards will tell you to resume CPR.
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9 in 10 cardiac arrest victims who receive a shock from an AED in the first minute live.
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Bystanders administer CPR about 40% of the time and AEDs even less so
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Children over age 8 can be treated with a standard AED. For children ages 1–8, the AHA recommends the pediatric attenuated pads that are purchased separately.
SCA FAST FACTS (AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION)
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Cardiac arrest is the abrupt loss of heart function in a person who may or may not have been diagnosed with heart disease.
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There are more than 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) annually in the U.S., nearly 90% of them fatal.
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The term “heart attack” is often mistakenly used to describe cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest and a heart attack are not the same.
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Cardiac arrest may be reversed if CPR is performed and a defibrillator shocks the heart and restores a normal heart rhythm within a few minutes.
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Cardiac arrest may be caused by irregular heart rhythms called arrhythmias. A common arrhythmia associated with cardiac arrest is ventricular fibrillation. In ventricular fibrillation, the heart’s lower chambers suddenly start beating chaotically and don’t pump blood.