At-Home Defibrillators for Cardiac Arrest
A home defibrillator for cardiac arrest, or CSA, is a device that is designed to save a person's life during a heart attack or other cardiac disorder. It works like the life-saving AEDs that medical professionals use, but costs a lot less and can drastically improve a patient's chance of survival. Some medical schools now teach their students how to use a home defibrillator as a part of a class assignment.
While it the Philips HeartStart MRX is a life-saving piece of equipment, it must be used correctly. Defibrillators can be expensive, so be sure to check with a physician before purchasing one. You can also purchase a defibrillator online or offline. When you are shopping for a defibrillator, make sure to check the website's credentials before purchasing. This way, you can ensure that the site will offer the product you need.
The Philips HeartStart FR-1 is the only AED that is approved for use at home. This AED also gives voice instructions for use and costs about $1,200. In many cases, a home AED is not necessary to save a person's life in a cardiac arrest. But it may be worth the money if the person lives in a rural area or is isolated from a hospital.
Some defibrillators have Bluetooth capabilities. This technology can help patients with certain heart conditions connect the device to a medical device. The HeartStart Home Defibrillator is a $1,300 device, which is available over the counter. Competing defibrillators require a prescription and are easily purchased from medical equipment companies. Despite their price, the Heart and Stroke Foundation advises that it should not replace the expertise of a trained paramedic.
The results of this study are not surprising: over 70% of cardiac arrests occur at home, and most patients die before help arrives. Without the help of an AED, the survival rate can be as low as two percent. The new study was published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine and the American College of Cardiology. The results showed that training trained volunteers to use a defibrillator during cardiac arrest nearly doubled their chance of survival. You can learn more about this topic here: https://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/divisions-diagnostics-and-procedures/medicine/defibrillator.
The study's participants received training in recognizing cardiac arrest and receiving CPR. Half were also randomly assigned a home AED and told to use it before calling for help and performing CPR. The results showed that over 37 months, 450 patients suffered cardiac arrest. Of those, 228 received an AED, and 222 did not. This results in a heightened rate of survival among participants.
The researchers concluded that having an AED in the home reduces the risk of death from cardiac arrest by 40%, compared to the noncardiac cases. But they cautioned that further studies would be needed to determine whether the device can save lives in these patients. Aside from the studies, the public health benefits are unclear. One certain thing is that home AEDs can reduce the risk of death after a cardiac arrest in an average home by more than 40%.
