Diver Death Octopus Hole Hood Canal Washington

[uncfnp]

Sorry to interject a technical question into this solemn thread. I know from classes that the AED has to detect a "shockable" rhythm because some tachychardia should not be shocked. What I didn't realize was that the AED would not shock if there was no pulse at all. Is that correct? Any heart docs out there that can elaborate?

You are right that an AED recognizes venticular arrhythmias, ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation, and will "defibrillate" these rhythms but does not "shock" other types of tachycardias.

But AED's do shock pulseless victims. Its why they need CPR. Think about it. You do not do CPR on anyone with a pulse. A slow VT will occassionally create a detectable pulse. VF, I hate to use the word never in medicine but I think it is safe here, never has a detectable pulse. What I think was meant is that the AED did not detect any cardiac rhythm at all, called asystole. There must be some electrical activity fron the heart for defibrillation to be attempted. Otherwise, treatment is CPR and with EMS arrival, medications such as epinephrine. This is continued until either the victim regains a shockable rhythmn or efforts are terminated.

 

[ZephyrNYC]

Sorry to interject a technical question into this solemn thread. I know from classes that the AED has to detect a "shockable" rhythm because some tachychardia should not be shocked. What I didn't realize was that the AED would not shock if there was no pulse at all. Is that correct? Any heart docs out there that can elaborate?

gkj,

I'm not a "heart doc" (cardiologist), but I did have to pass cardiology in order to complete paramedic school, so I'll attempt to add to the answers that other forum members already posted. First of all, "tachycardia" means a heart rate that is faster than normal. Arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) can also be slower than normal. There are other arrhythmias that can be technically considered slower than normal, but for our purposes, bradycardia is the name of a heart rhythm that is slower than normal. Another person already answered that v-fib (ventricular fibrillation) and v-tach (ventricular tachycardia) are the two arrythmias for which AEDs are designed to deliver a shock. There are certain other arrythmias that can be shocked with a manual defibrillator (not an AED). I hope this helps.

---------- Post added January 6th, 2016 at 09:12 PM ----------

You realize this is almost a 10 yo thread? No pulse, no AED shock. The units that paramedics use may have manual overrides, but not the ones you see hanging on the wall

Thanks for your answer, John. For gjk's clarification, in the U.S., First Responders and EMTs (Emergency Medical Technician-Basic) are trained and authorized to use AEDs, but not manual defibrillators; the use of which are reserved for higher levels of care, such as paramedics (Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic), RNs (Registered Nurses), etc. When I worked as a paramedic, we carried manual defibrillators made by Lifepak and Zoll.


Rest in Peace, Brad.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

You realize this is almost a 10 yo thread? No pulse, no AED shock. The units that paramedics use may have manual overrides, but not the ones you see hanging on the wall

... understandable, as there was another death at the same dive site last week-end ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)