The Heart Start Home Defibrillator, one of the AED, or Automatic External Defibrillators is made by the Philips Company. They are known for their full line of equipment designed to assist in public safety. Whether it is airbags, fire extinguishers, home security systems, they specialize in devices that protect the average citizen and those they love.

Heart attacks and incidents of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), account for nearly a quarter of a million deaths in the United States every year. What causes them is not completely understood. Very often, the person will have no history of any kind of heart disease, and a SCA can come at any time, in any place, and disable virtually anyone. The Philips’s Heart Start is not only the first defibrillator intended for home use without a doctor’s prescription; it is currently the only one available. When you consider that every minute after a heart attack or SCA is vital to the patient’s survival, having a device that almost any person can operate increases their chance of living. According to medical experts, the first five minutes after the onset of ventricular fibrillation are critical. If a defibrillator is used within that time period, the patient has the best hope of surviving. However, it has been determined that not even one person in twenty survives a SCA due to the fact that a defibrillator is not available in time.

Automated External Defibrillators are intended for use in offices, restaurants, stores, gyms and countless other locations where medical attention can not be provided in a timely fashion. In the case of the Philips Heart Start Home Automated External Defibrillator, it has a vocal mechanism that gives very clear and precise instructions in a soft voice that talks a person through every step of its use. The device senses the actions of the user and adapts its instructions based on them. The Philips Company has perfected sophisticated technology, which enables the Heart Start to quickly decide if a shock even needs to be carried out. If it determines that an electrical jolt is not needed, it can then walk the user through all of the steps of CPR. The machine is powerful and versatile, and a useful weapon in the fight against the ravages of heart disease.

Medtronic manufactures the Lifepak 12 Defibrillator, and calls it the most dynamic and diverse device of its kind. It does have a number of features that do make it outstanding. It uses biphasic technology, rather than monophasic, which uses less power and yet delivers two jolts to the patient’s heart instead of one. Since it weighs only fourteen and a half pounds, it is compact and portable. It also offers a variety of pads: the standard paddles, or pediatric ones (for children), paddles, and/or internal pads that can be sterilized.

In these modern, high-tech high-speed days, nearly every aspect of human life is subject to being made obsolete, very quickly. So, another positive feature of the Lifepak 12 is that it can be easily upgraded. New features and enhancements can be added as system changes are needed, and (at least according to the maker) it is at a reasonable price. In addition, it is compatible with QUIK-COMBO pacing / defibrillation / ECG electrodes and it allows for multiple parameter monitoring: stable oxygen saturation monitoring, oscillometric noninvasive blood pressure (NIBP) monitoring among them.

The device is also setup to monitor end-tidal CO₂ (EtCO₂) for patients that are either intubated or non-intubated by using patented Microstream, capnography technology and FilterLine™ accessories. As an added plus, even in a situation of high humidity, all of these features are able to function properly. The Lifepak 12 also has a patented program (the GE Marquette 12SL) for ECG analysis that provides industry-standard interpretation. This will prove invaluable in making treatment decisions for the patient.

As if that isn’t enough, the machine has a regular laundry list of features. Trending of vital signs gives medical staff the ability to rapidly evaluate any changes in the patient’s condition. The condition of the heart and any risks to it are easily tracked, the ST-segment deflection of the cardiogram is measured every 30 seconds, and it has two channels of invasive pressure monitoring with waveform and numeric display. One truly outstanding aspect is its ability to interface with a Bluetooth wireless communication system. This allows for easy transmission of the 12-lead ECG and all patient data.

The Lifepak 12 Defibrillator comes in AED, manual or both, depending on the skill and comfort level of the users. Add in noninvasive pacing, pulse oximetry (SpO2), 12-lead ECG, EL or LCD display, capnography and noninvasive blood pressure (NIBP), and the device can be seen to be an outstanding kind of defibrillator.

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.

The portable defibrillator has revolutionized the use of cardiac care world over. Saving patients suffering from cardiac arrest is no more within the exclusively domain of emergency rooms or intensive care units within the hospital premises. Portable defibrillator is a handy device in the hands of people to avert death blow inflicted by sudden cardiac arrest.

A portable defibrillator is specifically designed to ensure more adaptability of defibrillator. It is manufactured to fight cardiac arrest or heart attack caused by fibrillation or irregular heart beat and ensure no-blood clotting inside the heart. Easy to carry, the portable defibrillator shocks the cardiac arrested heart to return to normalcy stimulating a manageable rhythm. It channels an electric current into the heart via our body using electrodes or paddles positioned on the chest. As a result the heart muscles ripple and fibrillation in the heart stops.

Before the development of the portable defibrillator, the device was inside the exclusive premise of heart physicians, hospitals and emergency technicians. The colossal size and complicated user was only to be administered by trained professionals. But the inauguration of portable defibrillator has taken the device out of hospital or medical setting. Simple to use because of its smaller size and easier user manual, any one even a layman now can administer the device and save lives.

Portable defibrillators have also reduced the risk associated with regular use of the device by untrained people. The inbuilt automated regulator within the device decides whether the patient suffering from cardiac arrest does need an electric current inflow. It is even able to assess the required wattage or power intensity needed for defibrillation. Minimizing possible misuse, the inbuilt computer forbids the operator to go beyond the required stage.

The light weight and transportable adaptability of the portable defibrillator make it ideal for storage and employ at any public place such as school, gate community, airport and sporting venues. A person with little or no medical training can also administer the device. The latest portable defibrillator developed by Zoll is just the size of a laptop computer. Among other features it includes totally automated controls and instructions with accent prompts. It automatically detects the need for treatment and instructs step by step on the process to administer proper treatment. The voice prompts help laypersons like security guards and flight attendants to use the device effectively to hoard the cardiac arrested patients from death till the proper medical service is arrived.

Though, the debate on the benefits of a portable defibrillator in the home is still raging, we can’t deny the fact that the device is of vital importance to cardiac arrest victims remote from the hospital location. With almost a million American citizens falling victim to cardiovascular disease every year, portable defibrillator is the best chance to ensure survival on the face of sudden death. Easy to carry and administer the device, portable defibrillator can be carried on your tour and ensure your successful fight with cardiac arrest.

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.

For many individuals with heart problems, a defibrillator price is easily worth the peace of mind that comes from owning one. The presence of a defibrillator in the home offers the patient, family, and friends the assurance that cardiac treatment is at hand. With new advances in technology and growing affordability, everyone should consider having this important item in their home.

Defibrillators work by giving a dose of electrical energy to a heart in trouble. A unit can help individuals with an abnormally rapid heart rate or no pulse by shocking the heart back into a normal rhythm.

The History of Defibrillators

The use of electrical impulses for heart conditions began in the 1940s. Dr. Claude Beck used the electric shock on a fourteen year old boy who suffered from a congenital heart condition. Internal electrical paddles and a heart drug restored proper function.

A major change happened in the 1960s when portable defibrillators were created. Availability and price kept defibrillators from the home, but they were used in ambulances and medical facilities. As time passed, defibrillators became more common and researchers developed more types. Today, units can be implanted in a patient’s chest, kept in public places, or bought for the home.

Today’s AEDs

Automated external defibrillators can be purchased for the home and should be considered for any patient with a history of cardiac arrest or other heart problem. Units are easy to operate and many have voice prompts to help individuals use the machine. However, you should consider taking a training class so that you’ll be better able to operate it in stressful situations.

Units can be purchased at many online retailers and in some local stores. Although the price of a defibrillator for the home is still over one thousand dollars, this is a small price to pay for the assurance that if a cardiac attack happens, you’re prepared. Studies suggest that over eighty percent of cardiac arrests happen at home. Often the key to survival depends on how soon a defibrillator is used.

Thus, you should consider having a home defibrillator unit in your home. You never know when you might need it. The defibrillator price will more than make up for itself if something were to happen and you could prevent the death of a loved one.