A home defibrillator is a life saving device, the same as having a fire extinguisher in your home.  The chances of you actually needing to use your fire extinguisher might be smaller than the need for a home defibrillator. In case of an emergency, everyone should have a home defibrillator in his or her home. Especially, if you live far away from a hospital. The chances of survival during cardiac arrest are next to nothing if you don’t have defibrillation done immediately. Living far away could mean an ambulance wouldn’t even get to your home for 20 minutes and some doctors say ten minutes is death.

The FDA has approved the home defibrillators as a fantastic device to have in the home. Early defibrillation is advocated in surviving.

There are no prescription requirements for owning a home defibrillator. You can buy one for your home without a prescription. If you do buy one, it is important to become educated on how to use it right away. There are training sessions you can take, documentation you can read, it doesn’t matter how you prefer but learn the equipment. There is nothing like having your partner on the floor and having the life saving equipment in your hand but not knowing how to save him or her. Some insurance companies will cover a home defibrillator if you have a medical need for it and you meet medical conditions that meet certain requirements. If you have a risk profile for cardiac arrest, then work with your doctor and get a physician’s letter of medical necessity. Not all insurance companies will cover the cost of a home defibrillator and if they don’t then you will have to pay the bill. However, it can’t hurt to try.

A home defibrillator can mean life or death, especially if you live extremely far away from a hospital. If you have had a heart attack or meet the profile as being at risk for cardiac arrest, then you should have a home defibrillator. It would surprise you the percentages of men and women who have died from heart attacks each year that never showed a single symptom of being at risk to a heart attack. If they would have had early defibrillation from a home defibrillator, they might still be here today.

Experts agree that Phillips defibrillators help save the lives of individuals having a cardiac arrest. For over a century, Phillips has been providing manual and automatic defibrillators to hospitals, medical centers, schools, businesses, and homes. You’re sure to find a Phillips defibrillator that meets your needs.

If you are looking for a defibrillator, you need to take into consideration where the defibrillator will be used and who it will likely be used on. For children under eight, you’ll need special pads on hand in case of emergency. The pads reduce the amount of energy that passes from the defibrillator into the patient’s chest.

Here are a few of Phillips defibrillators that are available to help you make your choice:

• HeartStart OnSite: designed for use by individuals with little or no training, the OnSite defibrillator is available without a prescription and is the easiest defibrillator to use. At just over three pounds, the defibrillator can be stored or carried just about anywhere. The unit features audio instructions that will guide you through CPR and defibrillation. It can be used on adults and children.

 

• HeartStart Home: most cardiac arrests happen at home, but with the HeartStart Home you’ll be prepared and have a better chance of saving your loved ones. This unit is available without a prescription and an audio voice issues instructions.

 

• HeartStart FRx: rugged and reliable, this defibrillator is a great choice for first responders, businesses, and schools. Designed to work in tough conditions, the defibrillator sends a biphasic waveform to help normalize heart rates during cardiac arrest. Although the unit is small and lightweight, it guides users through defibrillation process even when audio instruction is challenging to hear.

 

• HeartStart FR2+: used by professional responders and response teams, this unit works reliably in public places and other difficult situations. This unit is ideal for responders who have training in life saving skills and who want a quick acting defibrillator.

 

• HeartStart MRx: designed for hospitals and EMS use, this manual defibrillator has the longest battery operation and the fastest shock time.

 

• HeartStart XL: at less than fifteen pounds, this unit can be transported around hospitals to where it is needed. The unit has both AED and manual operation and can be easily switched between them.

 

Whatever type of defibrillator you are looking for, Phillips defibrillators will meet your needs. You may be seeking a unit for your home or school, which means that you should look at a unit that requires little training and is lightweight. You’ll find that there’s a Phillips defibrillator that’ll be perfect for you.

Public access defibrillators (PAD) are automated external defibrillators (AED) that can be used by laymen and don’t need any expert medical worker when exigencies emerge. Sudden cardiac arrest causes blood clotting in the heart and death appears imminent wanting proper blood circulation in the body. Unable to get cardiopulmonary resuscitation, patient may die within a few minutes. But an electric shock to the heart generated by an automated external defibrillator by public access defibrillators may save life.

Defibrillation is a self-regulating clairvoyant of survival for patients with cardiac arrests not approachable to the hospital. It reduces the fatal time gap between the ambulance response time and emergency call using bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation through public access defibrillators. Use of portable public access defibrillators by non-emergency workers giving respite to cardiac patients away from hospitals has led to dramatic increase in their survival rates. As reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2003 the patient survival rate is 50% more for public access defibrillators administered patients.

Public access defibrillators include detectors, controllers and therapy delivery circuits. The detector diagnoses and informs ahead of a life threatening condition of a cardiac patient where as the controller instructs the defibrillator to automatically alert the therapy delivery circuit to provide immediate and proper therapy. Public access defibrillators are easy to use and can be appended to a patient by any attendant or bystander. Once appended the instrument adapts itself to monitor and administered the therapy automatically incase of life threatening condition of cardiac patients.

Public access defibrillators are known to save thousands of lives in the UK and US. Sudden cardiac arrest causes patients suffer from asystole and pulseless electrical activity due to lack of immediate defibrillating. It may affect a protracted interval of early ventricular fibrillation or the occurrence of permanent cardiac damage. Therefore, intervention by public access defibrillators to lessen defibrillation time increases the hope of patients’ survival. Seeing the importance of public access defibrillators, an Australian airline has decided to mount them in their aircrafts.

Using public access defibrillators is as simple as utilizing a fire extinguisher. No specialized training or any sort of medical knowledge is required to administer them to any patient. These devices also require minimal maintenance and could be continued with the help of telephone or interactive instruction. Their cost effectiveness is another succor to both the heart patients and the national and provincial governmental health care system. The targeted placement of public access defibrillators at places like airports and shopping malls is sure to be great help for a large number of susceptible people.

The efficacy and cost effectiveness of public access defibrillators in enhancing cardiac survival rate led to the increase in its installations in many cities. These devices are also being established at home by many rich businessmen for individual use. The growing use of public access defibrillators is a succor to hundreds of under privileged and retired cardiac patients living in areas far from ultra-modern hospitals.

Portable defibrillators are intended to fight one of the leading causes of premature death in the United States: cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, people are not prone to have a heart attack in a convenient location; say, in a hospital or near an EMT station. No, most of them take place at home, in restaurants, at the gym, airport, a shopping mall and a host of other very inconvenient places.

That is where a portable defibrillator comes in. It has been determined that the first five minutes after the onset of the attack are the most critical. For every minute that passes the odds of surviving drop by ten percent! Yet, studies also show that only around five percent of victims survive when the event occurs in one of those locations. That is over 460,000 people dying every year! As a result, many communities have pushed to make some sort of defibrillator available in high-traffic zones: e.g. malls, community centers, parks.

In a normal heart, a regular heartbeat keeps the blood flowing throughout the body; all of it regulated by the heart’s own pacemaker. A small, simple series of electrical pulses is all that is required. But, for whatever reason(s), that pulse can be interrupted and/or scrambled. This causes what doctors call ventricular fibrillation (VF), the heart is no longer able to contract and expand because its rhythm is so disorganized. Often in this situation, people will try CPR, but it is, at best, a temporary stop gap. CPR does improve the chance of survival, buy a few more precious minutes, but people rarely recover from VF through CPR alone. The true mitigating factor that saves people is the prompt application of some kind of defibrillation.

In some sections of the nation, the survival rate for heart attacks in a public location is as low as one percent! And this is not just in rural areas; New York City is on that list. With the advent of portable defibrillators, some of which are fully automated, the prospect of saving more lives in the future looks most promising. They make it possible for ordinary people who have no emergency response or medical training to use the devices effectively. As recently as 2003, a study found that defibrillators used by trained volunteers almost doubled the survival rate of heart attack patients who had suffered their attacks in a public place.

In these uncertain days, when more and more Americans are suffering from cardiac problems, AED Defibrillators can save a life. Sudden cardiac arrest is currently one of the leading causes of premature death in the United States, nearly a quarter of a million people die from it every year. It outranks breast and prostate cancer, fires, hand guns, automobile accidents and AIDS, to name but a few.

In the normal course of its life, the heart receives a regular series of tiny electrical impulses, which keep it beating at a steady, regular pattern, so that it can pump oxygen-rich blood through the body. And, as the poet says: "Every beat separates a man from eternity." But, every once in a while, due to any number of medical reasons, the electrical signal can get scrambled. As a result, the heart is rendered unable to contract. It’s a condition called: ventricular fibrillation. Decades ago, medical researchers discovered that the best way to "jump start" the heart and get its normal rhythm – defibrillation – restored was with a mild electrical jolt delivered right to the surface of the organ. Of course, that’s not always possible. More often than not, some sort of external defibrillator must be used.

Hospitals are well-known for having the finest in external defibrillation equipment. Everyone has seen those episodes of "St. Elsewhere" and "E/R" where the doctor grabs the paddles and shouts: "Clear!" And, nearly every ambulance in America comes equipped with a miniature version of the same device. But, unfortunately, people generally do not conveniently have a heart attack near a hospital or EMT station. As the minutes tick by, a patient’s chance of living drops ten percent for each of those precious minutes. That’s where the automated external defibrillator comes into play. These days, the devices can be found in schools, churches, offices, amusement parks, gyms, restaurants and all manner of private and public places.

AED defibrillators exactly mimic the types used in hospitals, but in a manner that allows any layperson to operate it. Usually, the machine has voice-prompts to guide the user in activating it. First, the backings from the two electrodes are peeled off, and then one electrode is placed over the sternum, against the bare skin. Next, the second goes (also on the bare skin) just a little to the left of the first one. The device then analyzes the patient’s heart in order to determine if, in fact, they are having a heart attack. Once that’s established, it delivers an electric shock to try and re-establish a normal heart rhythm. And, just like in those hospital television shows, everyone needs to stand well away from the person when the shock is applied. If properly used, these devices have the potential to save thousands of people each year.

Defibrillator pads are essential to the operation of a defibrillator. The sole function of a defibrillator is to zap someone’s irregular heartbeat back to a normal, steady, functioning rhythm. The electrodes of a defibrillator are placed in the defibrillator pads. Defibrillator pads help the electrode deliver the energy to the patient’s heart. They act as a middleman so the energy can move to the heart.

To help maximize the amount of energy that gets to the heart and to prevent the skin from burning, emergency technicians place gels between the skin and the defibrillator pads. These gels usually have petrolatum or lanolin. Petrolatum and lanolin create a better transition of energy from the defibrillator battery to the heart.

Defibrillator pads come in different shapes and sizes. They look like mittens without the thumbs and are usually white. Most emergency technicians will carry several different sizes of defibrillator pads. The amount of charge that goes through the pads depends on the size of the pads. A charge that is meant for a full-grown man should not be delivered to a child. A child is smaller and may not be able to sustain the charge.

Using Defibrillator Pads on Kids

Kids are smaller than adults, but they’re not immune to heart failure. Emergency technicians sometimes have to use heart defibrillators on small children. This usually occurs because the child has been through a traumatic experience and needs to have his or heart calmed down. They also may come across a child who does have a heart problem. Some kids are born with heart problems and others experience heart problems as a residual side effect of other ailments.

As mentioned before, kids cannot receive a shock that is as powerful as one administered to an adult. Each shock given to an adult is about 150 Joules. The amount of charge given to a patient is based on the person’s weight. For children, medical technicians use age to determine the appropriate charge. Usually a 50-Joule charge is sufficient for kids that are younger than eight.

Now, we’ve talked about how giving a wrong charge to a child can be fatal. However, the converse is true for adults. Giving an adult a charge meant for a child is insufficient. So it’s very important to get the right defibrillator pads.

To make it easier, some defibrillator producers make children defibrillator pads and conductors that look different than adult defibrillators. For example, Philips requires that all of its children’s external defibrillator pads and connectors look different than ones made for adults. Philips uses a tiered system to identified these products for the right age group. The package containing a child’s connector has a pink teddy bear. This unique packaging is supposed to grab the attention of the emergency responder so they don’t accidentally use the wrong conductor or defibrillator pad.

So you’ve made the decision to get a defibrillator, but before you pull the trigger, you should check out some defibrillator reviews. It’s always a good idea to do some product research before you make big purchases. Especially if the big purchase is also one that could save the life of you or someone you love.

The Best of the Best Defibrillators

The HeartStart Home Defibrillator made by Philips is consistently rated as one of the most effective, easy to use external home defibrillators out there. Medical sources such as the Mayo Clinic as well as well-respected news sources, such as the Wall Street Journal, have pointed to his product as a leader in the industry.

The HeartStart Defibrillator is recognized for usability because the machine literally does all of the work. It comes with a step-by-step tutorial that talks you through the process. The more quickly you move, the quicker it gives you advice.

This device reads the person’s heartbeat to determine if they need a shock. After it reads the heartbeat, you hit a well-marked button that will deliver the shock. However, if the machine doesn’t think the person needs a shock, it will not distribute the energy to the patient when you punch the button.

This defibrillator gets stellar reviews, but it is expensive. It costs between $1,000 and $2,000 depending on the accessories you buy. It’s possible that your insurance company will knock down this cost. Insurance companies are usually only interested in picking up some of the tab if you or someone in your family has a known heart condition.

The HeartStart Home Defibrillator is well recognized in the industry as a good external defibrillator, but it’s not the only one. You should talk to your doctor about your defibrillator choice before you consider making a purchase.

Finding Defibrillator Reviews

There are a couple of ways you can go about finding defibrillator reviews. For starters, you can get on Google or another Internet search engine and enter "defibrillator reviews." If you’re trying to decide between two defibrillators, you might just want to enter the name of the defibrillator and see what you get.

The Internet has a vast array of information, which can be very helpful. However, it can be harmful because a lot of misinformation is distributed through the Internet. To make sure that you’re getting valuable information, know your source. Company Web sites, medical journals and reviews written by medical experts are the most valuable defibrillator reviews out there.

Lawyers also write reviews of defibrillators and defibrillator recalls. Though these reviews may offer some good information, be careful. Some lawyers write these defibrillator reviews to attract clients who feel they’ve been wronged by a particular company.

Defibrillators save thousands of lives everyday, but you may be wondering, "What is a defibrillator and how does it work?" Simply put, a defibrillator is a machine that sends an electrical current to a person’s heart in order to shock the heart back into a normal heart rate. Defibrillators are often used in cases of sudden cardiac arrest.

When a person suffers cardiac arrest, they lose consciousness and cease normal breathing. Although the terms are commonly interchanged, a cardiac arrest is different than a heart attack. Strictly speaking, with a heart attack a person suffers from a blockage of the arteries and may experience chest pain and other symptoms. Generally, heart attack victims do not lose consciousness.

Cardiac arrest is caused by ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. Here, the heart beats too fast and shuts down, no longer pumping blood throughout the body. This can result in sudden cardiac death.

In the past, defibrillators were used only in hospitals because the units were large and expensive. Hospital units are still more expensive than home models and they work by sending an electrical impulse through paddles placed on a person’s chest. Today, however, units exist that are portable and that are implanted into a patient’s chest.

Automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, are becoming more common in places like schools, businesses, and sporting events. These portable units are about the size of child’s lunchbox and can be used by individuals with limited training. In fact, many of these units audibly guide users through a series of steps to help the patient.

The AED reads the patient’s heart rate rhythm and administers an electrical current to the heart. Studies show that the more quickly defibrillation treatment is given, the more likely a patient is to survive. Although CPR can sustain an individual, it cannot restore a patient’s heart rhythm like a defibrillator can.

If someone is experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, call 9-1-1 and administer a defibrillator as soon as possible. Acting quickly can save the patient’s life.

Thus, the question, "What is a defibrillator" is an important one for parents, teachers, and caretakers to consider. A defibrillator can save the life of someone experiencing cardiac arrest.

Every homeowner should consider having a Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator to use in case of emergencies. Every year, sudden cardiac arrest kills more people than car accidents, AIDS, breast cancer, and house fires combined. Just like fire extinguishers, seatbelts, and other safety equipment, a home defibrillator should be considered a necessary purchase for every residence.

Defibrillators are used to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm when the rate is irregular or absent. Used in various forms since the 1940s, these units save thousands of lives each year. Most of us are familiar with some of the spectacular stories of student athletes revived after suffering a cardiac attack during a game. Defibrillators are responsible for most of these amazing brought back to life tales.

Why should you have a defibrillator in your home? Here are a few reasons:

• Over 80 percent of cardiac episodes occur at home.
• Over one million people suffer a heart attack each year and 40 percent of these attacks will result in death.
• Coronary heart disease is responsible for 20 percent of deaths in the United States.
• Studies show that having a defibrillator, like the Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator, available significantly increases the chance of survival.
• Similar devices are carried in ambulances worldwide.
• Units are portable, with convenient carrying cases. Take one to restaurants, on car rides, and on vacation for peace of mind.

These are just a few reasons why you should consider adding a Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator to your home. Philips designed the unit to be easy to use. In fact, almost anyone can help save a life with this defibrillator.

The defibrillator gives instructions in a clear, calm voice. The unit senses your actions and adapts the speed of the instructions to your movement. In addition, when the pads are placed on the patient’s skin, the defibrillator will automatically sense whether a shock is needed. All you need to do is pull the cartridge handle, place the pads on the patient’s bare chest, and press the shock button.

If you are thinking about a Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator but are worried about the cost, stop worrying. A portable defibrillator may be covered by your insurance company if a doctor has diagnosed a heart condition or if you’ve already suffered a cardiac attack. Talk to your doctor about whether you qualify. Philips also offers an easy, affordable monthly payment plan. For several dollars a day, your family can be protected.

The automated defibrillator was invented to combat heart disease fatalities. Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States. The rise in heart disease related deaths has prompted the medical community to find innovative ways to keep people alive after they’ve had a heart attack, stroke or other heart disease-related crisis.

What are Automated Defibrillators?

Defibrillators are electronic devices that help a person’s heart work correctly for a short period of time. Defibrillators are very simple looking. They consist of a control box that houses the generator and battery. It also has two paddles that are attached to the generator with chords.

When a person has a heart attack, their heart starts beating erratically. This erratic behavior is called ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation prevents blood from moving from the heart to the brain and other organs. If the heart isn’t stabilized, damage can be caused to these organs or, in the worst-case scenario, the person can die.

Automated defibrillators get a person’s heart back on track through a series of electric shocks. In fact, defibrillation, manual or automated, is the only way to combat ventricular fibrillation. The shocks free up the blockage and allow blood to once again start flowing to necessary organs. This also pulls the heart rate back down to a safe, normal rhythm.

The Advantages to Using Automated Defibrillators

Automated defibrillators aren’t the only way to resuscitate a heart. Before automated defibrillators became the norm, emergency technicians used manual defibrillation. Both automated defibrillation and manual defibrillation share the same concept and have the same result, but manual defibrillation requires more skill and time.

Most automated defibrillation units that a layman would use have automated voices that explain what to do. These machines read the persons heart rate for you and even determine if the person needs a shock!

A person operating a manual defibrillation has to understand heart rhythms because they do the interpreting, not a machine. They then have to decide if the ECG shows that the person needs a shock. If a shock is needed, they must understand how to administer it themselves.

Manual defibrillators are generally used in hospitals, but you can buy an automated defibrillator for your home. The advantage to having one in your home is that you don’t have to wait for emergency personnel to attempt a resuscitation.

Getting Help in Public with an AED

Automated defibrillator technology has gotten so advanced that many companies and governments are installing defibrillators in public spaces that have a lot of traffic. These "public access defibrillators" are placed on the wall of a very visible area such as a hallway in a train station.

An automated defibrillator is so simple to use, it doesn’t even require a training program. They have step-by-step instructions so that anyone can help a person who goes into cardiac arrest.