Welcome to DDI Safety’s
Ultimate Defibrillator Guide
If everyone had quick access to a defibrillator we could save a 22,000 more Australian’s lives each year. That’s huge. That’s our colleagues, grandparents, children and friends getting a second chance. The problem: Understanding defibrillators can seem complicated. That’s why at DDI Safety we make defibs easy!
Our guide is filled with stacks of articles to help answer any defibrillator questions you have. Jump into an article that interests you below or keep scrolling for a few Defibrillator basics.
Why Important?
- Benefits of Defibrillators: Why Every Community Needs Them
- Can You Still Die With a Defibrillator?
- Am I legally required to have a Defibrillator at my Workplace?
- AEDs in First Aid: What Every Australian Needs to Know!
- Game-Changers: AED’s VS Waiting for an Ambulance
- AED’s your “Best Bet” for survival
- AED’S: Reviving Hearts
How Defibrillators Work?
- Defibrillator Tech Talk: Monophasic vs. Biphasic – What’s the Difference?
- Can You Use a Taser as a Defibrillator?
- Can you use a Defibrillator on Someone who has Stents?
- Can They Restart or Stop a Heart? Understanding Defibrillators
- Do Defibrillators Leave Burn Marks?
- Can You Use a Defibrillator on a Dog?
- Can a Defibrillator to the Head Kill You?
- Can You Use a Defibrillator on Someone With Nipple Piercings?
- Googlers Ask: Can You Use a Defibrillator on a…
- Can You Defibrillate Yourself?
- Can You Use a Defibrillator on a Pregnant Woman?
- Are AEDs and Pacemakers the Same Thing?
- Do Defibrillators Hurt?
- Can Using a Defibrillator Actually Damage Your Heart?
- The Power to Save Lives: Understanding AED Battery Life
- Can You Reuse a Defibrillator
- How much do defibrillators cost?
- Heart Attack vs Cardiac Arrest: Whats the Difference?
- Zapping AED Myths
- Why do Defibrillators say clear?
- Will a Defibrillator shock a beating heart?
Where are Defibrillators Found?
- The Best Defibrillator for Your Office, Small Business, or Workplace
- Are Gyms Required to Have a Defibrillator?
- The Best Defibrillator for Schools: Protecting Our Children’s Hearts
- Can you Rent a Defibrillator? Should you buy one instead?
- Can I Buy a Defibrillator?
- AED Cabinet Guide: Ensuring Safety and Accessibility
- Workplace AEDs: What to know
Understanding Defibrillators
- Can a Defibrillator Kill You?
- Do Defibrillators Expire? Keeping Your Life-Saving Unit Rescue Ready
- Do Defibrillators Need a Power Supply?
- Do Defibrillators Need Charging?
- The Heartsine 300P Reaches End of Life.
- How Long Does a Heartsine 360p Defibrillator Last?
- Ready, Set, Rescue: Heartsine 350P vs. 500P Defibrillators
- Understanding the St John Defibrillator: Features, Costs, and Alternatives
- Finding the Cheapest Defibrillator in Australia: Here’s What to Know
- Heartsine 360P vs 500P – The Epic Faceoff
- CPRinsight- What is it?
- What Defibrillator to buy?
- Can Defibrillators be used with Pacemakers?
- Are Defibrillator Pads Reusable?
- Are Defibrillator Batteries Rechargeable?
How Do Defibrillators Work?
Your heart’s rate and rhythm are controlled by electrical signals. When these electrical signals malfunction, the heart enters what is called ventricular fibrillation. Basically, it starts to quiver and is unable to function properly. The lack of a proper heartbeat causes a person to become unconscious and stop breathing.
What causes a cardiac arrest? It’s not just heart attacks. Many people have a genetic condition called SCA. (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) This genetic issue can cause someone to have a cardiac arrest at any time, no matter what their age or health. Serious trauma from an accident, drowning and breathing problems, and electrical shock can also cause someone to have a cardiac arrest.
How do Defibrillators help? A defibrillator is used to provide a controlled electrical shock to the heart. When a heart is “quivering” this controlled shock can cause the heart to reset itself and start pumping normally.
Are they hard to use? No! They’re easy? Can you accidentally shock someone with a heart thats working properly? You can read the answer in this article about when Defibrillators shock.
Why not learn how to use one, and how to maintain one.
How Do I Use and Mantain A Defibrillator
How do you use defibrillators?
All you have to do to get started is press the “on” button. Then Defibrillators will begin to speak and coach you through the process of helping someone. It’s easy! Here’s three simple steps it will take you through.
Prepare the patient. The first step will be to remove clothing over the casualties chest.
In the prep kit with your defibrillator will usually be a pair of scissors to help you do this quickly.
If the person has a significant amount of chest hair, use the prep kits razor to shave the area where the pads will go to make sure they stick.
Pad placement: Next you’ll need to put the pads on.
On adults, generally you should place one pad slightly below the collar bone on the persons right chest and one pad on the person’s left side below the arm pit. This is an ideal position for the shock to run through the heart.
The defibrillator and pads themselves actually contain simple pictures of where they go, so it’s easy!
Applying Shock After you have applied the defibrillator pads, make sure to give CPR until the defibrillator tells you to stand clear.
The Defibrillator will analyse a persons heart rhythm. If a shock will help the heart, the defibrillator will tell you to stand clear and will either shock them automatically or tell you to press the shock button.
Sometimes, the heart condition will be so severe that emergency services will need to give them medication before a shock. If that’s the case the defibrillator will say “No shock advised” and tell you to keep giving CPR!
Why you should get a defibrillator?
We’ve already established that AED’s save lives. But just how many lives? Each year, between 20-30,000 people in Australia have a cardiac arrest out of the hospital. Only around 8 percent will survive.
Each minute someone has to receive Defibrillation their chance of survival drops. Studies have shown that if everyone had access to a Defibrillator within 3 minutes, 70-80% of people could be saved. You can read about one of those studies held at casinos in our article AEDS: Your best “bet” for survival. Imagine 22,000 lives saved yearly as opposed to the two thousand.
Another landmark study showed that for each minute in delay your chance of survival drops by 10 percent. You can learn some more key notes from that study in our article AED’s Reviving Hearts
How long would it take emergency services to get to you? It can vary. If you’d like to learn more read the article Gamechangers: AEDS vs Waiting for an Ambulance
What Defibrillator Should I get?
This is the big question. Perhaps you’ve been looking and are more confused than ever.
There are so many brands out there!
Don’t Worry. We’ve made a selector tool. Just answer a few questions to find the right defib for you.
Defibrillators can be cheaper than you think. For the price of an iphone you can save lives. There’s a bit more to it than price. We’ve written articles to compare defibs like the Heartsine 350p, 360p with the Heartsine 500p. We’ve also got the lowdown on St John Defibrillators.
Features to think about
When looking at Defibrillators, you will often see that some Defibrillators are called “AUTOMATIC DEFIBRILLATORS” and some are called “SEMI-AUTOMATIC” What’s the difference between the two? It’s quite simple. When a patient’s heart needs to be shocked:
Semi-Automatic defibrillators read out a warning to stand clear and then ask you to press a button to deliver a shock to the patient’s heart. Automatic Defibrillators verbally warn you to stand clear and then automatically apply the shock. Neither type is better than the other, generally choosing between the two is just a matter of preference.
Reader Technology
The stress of a life-threatening event can make it a challenge to give good quality CPR. Even 70% of medical professionals could improve their CPR quality. Some Defibrillators can help you in a stressful situation by giving you live feedback on how your CPR is going.
For example, they can tell you to “push harder” and “push faster.” In the industry, we call this “Reader Technology.” At DDI Safety, this is one of our favorite features.
If you’re interested in this feature it’s worth checking out the Heartsine 500p or Zoll AED 3
Child Mode
In places like schools and childcare centres, there is a possibility children may need defibrillation.. Children under 8 have more delicate bodies, and if possible a reduced shock should be given to them.
Our Lifepak models have what is called “Child Mode.” When using the defibrillator, pressing the child mode button will adjust the shock to a suitable voltage for children.
On our Heartsine models, you can purchase an optional add on “pediatric pad-pak.” It inserts into your defibrillator and adjusts the shock voltage down. It also has smaller pads that make it easier to position the pads on children.
Wifi Connectivity
If you manage safety for a large company and need to check on the status of Defibrillators in a variety of locations, a feature that could help you is WIFI connectivity. Defibrillators with WIFI connectivity can alert you when maintenance is required, or when a Defibrillator has been used.
The Lifepak CR2 models (excluding essential models) have inbuilt wifi connectivity. On on any of our Heartsine Defibrillators, you can add on the wifi gateway to enable connectivity.
What’s Next?
Thanks for taking the time to read our Ultimate Guide to Defibrillators!
We hope we have been able to help you get a better understanding of these lifesaving devices. What’s next?
Why not browse our range of Defibrillators.
We’ve made a helpful tool to help you find the right one for your needs.
Further Reading and References
First Aid Guidelines
Australian Resuscitation Council Guildelines
https://resus.org.au/guidelines/
Accidental Health & Safety’s Ultimate Guide to DRSABCD
https://accidentalddi.com.au/first-aid-guide/drsabcd-action-plan/
Jama Journal Articles on Defib Efficacy
Study 1 Study 2 Study 3 Study 4 Study 5 Study 6 Study 7 Study 8