AEDs, life-savers for cardiac arrest victims

Sudden cardiac arrests, which occur when the heart unexpectedly stops pumping blood, leads to individual’s collapse, loss of consciousness and eventually can prove fatal. Post the Covid pandemic, reports of relatively younger individuals, between the age of 40 years and 50 years, suddenly collapsing due to cardiac arrest have on the rise. Can the lives […]

Sudden cardiac arrests, which occur when the heart unexpectedly stops pumping blood, leads to individual’s collapse, loss of consciousness and eventually can prove fatal. Post the Covid pandemic, reports of relatively younger individuals, between the age of 40 years and 50 years, suddenly collapsing due to cardiac arrest have on the rise.

Can the lives of such persons, who are in the midst of a cardiac arrest, be saved? Is there an emergency treatment modality that a passerby or a relative can administer and save the life of a cardiac arrest patient?

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“If you administer CPR and AED at the right time, then there is an 80 per cent of chance that the individual who is experiencing cardiac arrest will be saved. While western countries have made CPR and AED a very common treatment modality, we are lagging behind. There is a dire need for people to be aware of the life-saving AED,” says Dr B Vijaya Rao, US-trained master instructor in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and faculty, American Heart Association.

While many in India are aware of CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation), very few know about Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and its potential to restart a heart that has stopped beating due to cardiac arrest.

Dr Vijaya Rao, who conducts ACLS training classes at Gandhi Medical College for junior doctors, says the awareness about AED in India is less than 2 per cent. “In western countries, there are AED kits installed with clear-cut instructions at public places like bus stops, airports, malls and subways. It is part of the curriculum of medical graduates in Europe and the US. That’s the reason why they are able to save so many patients who otherwise die in minutes due to cardiac arrest,” he says.

There are numerous international studies that show an increase in survival outcomes following cardiac arrests when patients are given CPR and AED. While defibrillators in hospitals are bulky and heavy, the AEDs are lightweight, portable and compact devices and can be taken from one place to another in an ambulatory care setting to deliver a shock during cardiac arrest.

Before dwelling deeper into the mechanisms of AEDs, there is also a need to understand the difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack. The US FDA defines cardiac arrest as, “sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops pumping blood. Unlike heart attacks, which are caused by a blockage in an artery to the heart, sudden cardiac arrest is caused when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions. This produces abnormal heart rhythms, called arrhythmias that make the heart unable to pump blood”.

Dr Vijaya says, “One need not be a healthcare professional to use an AED. Even a lay person can use it, provided they follow or learn instructions. Field level workers like ASHA and ANMs in Telangana must undergo training in use of AED and CPR.”

The AEDs can be placed at strategic locations where there is a large gathering like malls, multiplexes, airports, bus and railway stations, airports and even apartment complexes along with instructions in local language for use in the eventuality of a cardiac arrest.

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