A Guide to the Chain of Survival: Part 3
Cardiac arrest is usually an electrical problem – and it takes electricity to fix it.
Giving CPR helps keep the brain and other organs alive. The next step is to give the heart an electric shock. This stops it – like pressing a reset button – to try to get it to beat with a normal rhythm again.
You’ve seen this on TV, too, usually on hospital shows. The pads go on, everyone stands clear, the patient jerks with the shock and everyone waits for the sound of a regular heartbeat. It’s called defibrillation.
But you don’t have to be a medic or in a hospital to use a defibrillator. These life-saving machines are known as automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and can now be found in thousands of public places: stations, shops, schools, even pubs. The machine works out whether a shock is needed and tells you exactly what you need to do to help the patient.
The 999 call handler will tell you where the nearest device is. But you should send someone else to fetch it: you mustn’t stop the CPR.
