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Defibrillation is often an important step in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). [6] [7] CPR is an algorithm-based intervention aimed to restore cardiac and pulmonary function. [6] Defibrillation is indicated only in certain types of cardiac dysrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia.
(Defibrillation uses a therapeutic dose of electric current to the heart at a random moment in the cardiac cycle, and is the most effective resuscitation measure for cardiac arrest associated with ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia. [1])
Pediatric advanced life support (PALS) is a course offered by the American Heart Association (AHA) for health care providers who take care of children and infants in the emergency room, critical care and intensive care units in the hospital, and out of hospital (emergency medical services (EMS)). The course teaches healthcare providers how to ...
Lown devised a defibrillator that utilized direct current instead of alternating current. [56] A capacitor stored the energy until it was released in one massive jolt to the chest wall. The availability of new, small capacitors considerably reduced the size and weight of external defibrillators, which could now be easily brought to victims in a ...
Defibrillation [21] — Defibrillation is the definitive treatment step for those cases of cardiac arrest that involve a shockable rhythm, or one correctable by defibrillation (pulseless unstable ventricular tachycardia, coarse or fine ventricular fibrillation; it will not work for asystole or pulseless electrical activity)
Defibrillation cannot be applied to asystole and CPR must be initiated first in this case. A similar concept, cardioversion, utilizes the same defibrillation machine but is used for other rhythms such as atrial fibrillation and supraventricular tachycardia. In these rhythms, the machine is "synchronized" to the QRS complex to avoid shocking on ...
Basic life support (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening condition of cardiac arrest until they can be given full medical care by advanced life support providers (paramedics, nurses, physicians or any trained general personnel).
Rapid defibrillation outside of the hospital improves the chances of survival by as much as 30%, and involves using an automated external defibrillator (AED) to shock the patient's heart. [16] While CPR keeps blood flowing artificially, [17] rapid defibrillation is the only way to restart the heart and reset it to a healthy rhythm. [18]