Defibrillator Types

Cardiac arrests and heart attacks cause untold grief and pain to sufferers as well as their families. The good news is that a defibrillator can save the life of an individual if used quickly and correctly.

Defibrillators are medical devices created by various medical equipment manufacturers to help reverse cardiac arrests and heart attacks and give patients a second chance at life. They accomplish this by shocking the heart back into action so that it can start circulating blood again to vital organs and tissue.

There are an number of different kinds of defibrillators that have been created over the years. One type of defibrillator is called the Manual External defibrillator. The MED is used by physicians and paramedics in emergency situations where a patient needs their heart started again. MED's are generally found in medical facilities like hospitals, emergency rooms. MED's have a monitor and paddles that show details about the patient's health condition. The amount of energy, measured in joules, used in the patients can be regulated by the user.

An other type of defibrillator is called the AED or the Automated External Defibrillator. This kind of defibrillator has only been around for a few of years, but since their development, they have been used to help save a lot lives. Unlike the MED, which has to be manually set for the energy it releases, AED's have a small inbuilt computer system that recognizes the rhythm of the heart and sends the correct electric shock needed based on the individual situation.

These are the most advanced kind of defibrillators, and the big advantage is they can be used by non-medically trained persons in the vicinity of the attack. Thus reducing the (often critical) time delay involved in waiting for an ambulance to arrive to revive the patient's heart. Every minute wasted means a patient's chances for survival decreases by as much as 7-10%.

AED's are found in many public places, making them readily available for medical emergencies.