Proper placement of the defibrillation paddles, courtesy PhilippN, via Wikipedia
Defibrillation is the termination of ventricular fibrillation (v-fib) with electrical countershocks and is the most important intervention that a rescuer can take in patients who have suffered from cardiac arrest. The machine used for defibrillation is called a defibrillator.
There are many types of defibrillators including:
- Automated external defibrillator (AED), also called a fully automated defibrillator, which performs all of the functions needed for defibrillation on an internal computer. The operator applies pads to the chest and side of a person suffering v-fib, assures that all people are clear from the patient and then usually pushes a button to deliver the shock when prompted by the system.
- Manual defibrillator, which requires the operator to assess the need for defibrillation, select an energy level, charge the machine and deliver the shock.
- Automatic implanted cardioverter defibrillator, which is surgically implanted into patients who are at risk for sudden cardiac death caused by arrhythmia and automatically detects and treats arrhythmia.
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Defibrillation is a method used in nearly any episode to save the patient. There have only been a few cases where the patients didn't get an electric pulse and were pronounced dead.