An automated external defibrillator is designed to be used by anyone in the event of cardiac arrest. No medical training is required. Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time, and if you’re the person closest when it happens then you’re the one in the best position to help before the ambulance arrives. But having an AED nearby isn’t the same as knowing how and when to use one.
What Is an Automated External Defibrillator?
An automated external defibrillator is a portable electronic device that reads the heart’s electrical activity and delivers a controlled shock if a shockable rhythm is detected. It uses voice prompts and visual cues to guide the user through every step, regardless if they’ve had any medical or first aid training before.
What Happens During Cardiac Arrest
Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating with enough force to pump blood, cutting the brain and organs off from the oxygen they need. The person will collapse, lose consciousness, and stop breathing normally. Most cardiac arrests are caused by a problem with the heart’s electrical signals rather than a complete shutdown. The heart may be firing chaotically, causing it to quiver instead of pump, or beating so fast that no blood moves. Without treatment, irreversible brain damage can begin within three to five minutes.
Once placed on the body, an automated external defibrillator detects the heart rhythm to see if it is unusual and if an electric shock could return it to normal. If that’s the case, it delivers a large electrical shock that stuns the heart muscles all at once, momentarily stopping all electrical activity and giving the heart a chance to go back to its normal rhythm on its own.
Who Needs an AED?
AEDs should be available everywhere. Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, and in many places paramedics may not arrive quickly enough to make a difference on their own.
Workplaces and businesses are the most common setting outside of hospitals where an automated external defibrillator is likely to be needed. This is especially true of high-risk environments, such as workplaces that involve physical labour or large numbers of employees on site.
Public places should have an automated external defibrillator within reach. Anywhere people spend time, whether that’s a sports club, school, shopping centre, or community hall, is a place where cardiac arrest can happen.
Any workplace or community in a remote location far from emergency services should treat an on-site AED as a necessity. Survival rates drop by around 10% for every minute without defibrillation, and in areas where paramedics are 20, 30, or 40 minutes away, that window closes long before help arrives.
Homes where someone has a heart condition or has had a prior cardiac arrest have the most obvious reason to keep an AED. Around 59% of cardiac arrests in Australia happen at home, making it the place where an AED is most likely to be needed, despite being the place one is least likely to be found.
AED and CPR Together: A Life-Saving Combo
While CPR can be used whenever someone collapses and stops breathing, together CPR and AED are used to address different aspects of responding to cardiac arrest. CPR keeps blood moving to the brain and vital organs while defibrillation tries to restart the heart’s normal rhythm.
When someone is found unresponsive and not breathing, call 000 immediately, or direct a bystander to call while you start CPR. Send another person to find the nearest AED. Turn the device on when you get it and the automated external defibrillator will guide you through each step with voice prompts.
Remove clothing from the person’s chest. Place one adhesive pad on the upper right side of their chest, below the collarbone, and the second pad on the lower left side, below their armpit, as shown on the back of each pad.
Stand clear of the person without touching them while the AED analyses their heart rhythm. If a shock is needed, you will be prompted to press a button to deliver the shock. After that, resume CPR immediately. The device will guide you on when to restart chest compressions and whether another shock is needed. Continue compressions until the person recovers, emergency services take over, or you are no longer able to continue.
Without CPR, the window during which a shock can restore a normal rhythm closes within minutes. Good CPR extends that window.
Learn How to Use an Automated External Defibrillator
An AED can restore a normal heart rhythm when nothing else will, but only if the person closest to it knows what to do. The window for defibrillation to work is measured in minutes, and their chance of survival drops every minute that passes without action. Access to an AED only matters if the person who reaches it can use it. CPR training is how you get there, and enrolling now means being ready if it happens.
FAQs
Can I Learn CPR Through First Aid Training?
Yes, CPR is covered in first aid training, but HLTAID009 (Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) can also be completed as a short standalone course without doing a full first aid qualification. The standalone course suits people who need CPR certification only, or who want to renew without repeating full first aid. Compression technique and timing both slip within months, which is why a yearly refresher is worth doing.
What Items Should Be in a First Aid Kit?
A first aid kit should include disposable gloves, sterile and adhesive dressings, various bandages, wound closure strips, saline solution, scissors, tweezers, an emergency blanket, and an instant cold pack.
What is the Difference Between Sudden Cardiac Arrest and a Heart Attack?
A heart attack is when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is blocked, usually by a clot, causing damage to heart tissue. Sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart’s rhythm stops pumping blood the way it should.