Defibrillators in the home?

[sr71blackbird]

Dr Steve, I see they have defibrillator's on the wall where I work, and since my parents both have cardio issues, I was thinking of getting one for their house.
Are there certain kinds that are better rated than othes or better brands or whatever? Thanks!

[sr71blackbird]

Follow up question to mine above Dr Steve:
I found a defibrillator online for $700 and I ordered it. It is a Phillips Heart Start and I was wondering: my father has an implanted pacemaker/defibrillator and I wonder what would happen if he was having a heart attack with that in him and someone unknowingly used an external on him. Would it make things worse?

[RoseBlood]

Follow up question to mine above Dr Steve:
I found a defibrillator online for $700 and I ordered it. It is a Phillips Heart Start and I was wondering: my father has an implanted pacemaker/defibrillator and I wonder what would happen if he was having a heart attack with that in him and someone unknowingly used an external on him. Would it make things worse?

Is this the one with the adhesive shock pads? The one I am familiar will analyze the person first and tells you when the shock is initiated so I don't think it will shock with a pacemaker but I'm not sure.

[Dr Steve]

Dr Steve, I see they have defibrillator's on the wall where I work, and since my parents both have cardio issues, I was thinking of getting one for their house.
Are there certain kinds that are better rated than othes or better brands or whatever? Thanks!


Hmmm...I can't say one brand is better than the other, but I know Phillips makes one that you can buy over the counter.

I would get one of these if I had a history of malignant arrhythmia (like recurrent ventricular fibrillation) or a history of multiple heart attacks. Of course, if I had a history of recurrent ventricular fibrillation, I'd have an IMPLANTABLE defibrillator installed in my chest...this way I could get the shock even if I'm at the movies, or wherever.

There is a brief learning curve, and the likelihood that it'll ever do any good is low. However, if you witness your spouse keeling over at the dinner table, one of these things would be really, really, nice to have around. The sooner you defibrillate, the more likely you are to have a successful outcome in the case of cardiac arrest. There's this study the cardiologists do called an electrophysiologic study...they start and stop the patient's heart multiple times during the procedure but no one ever seems to die during one of these tests. The reason? They shock the heart within seconds of it stopping, so the patient recovers completely and can go home after the test.

So you have to weigh the cost vs the benefit; they ain't cheap. One of these days someone's life will be saved with one, though.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-HeartStart-Home-Defibrillator-AED/dp/B00064CED6


your pal,


steve

PS: you're a good son. :smile:

[Dr Steve]

Follow up question to mine above Dr Steve:
I found a defibrillator online for $700 and I ordered it. It is a Phillips Heart Start and I was wondering: my father has an implanted pacemaker/defibrillator and I wonder what would happen if he was having a heart attack with that in him and someone unknowingly used an external on him. Would it make things worse?

Actually it could...if his implantable defibrillator returned him to a normal rhythm, someone using an external could send him right back to the malignant rhythm that started it all. Then the implantable will fire again... it could end up being a nightmare. :-) The external shock can damage the internal defibrillator, too.

[Dr Steve]

Is this the one with the adhesive shock pads? The one I am familiar will analyze the person first and tells you when the shock is initiated so I don't think it will shock with a pacemaker but I'm not sure.\

This is a good point...I was thinking more of the hospital situation where someone is actuating the pulse manually. Hopefully they're looking at the monitor and seeing that the rhythm is back to normal (or the AED reads it correctly). I was talking "worst case" scenario, hypothetically, could someone do damage by shocking someone externally who has an internal defibrillator. The answer is still yes, but it's unlikely.