AED long term care

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jbrynels

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Hi All,

Sorry if this is a newbie question, but I am a newb.

As some of you may have seen in another post of mine, I am going on a two week sailing race from Victoria to Maui.

I am planning on bringing an AED, but I started thinking about it. Let's say that we have a cardiac arrest on the boat. It's not like I can administer adrenaline etc., so I begin cardiac protocol, and start shocking, but I am at least a day from any sort of outside assistance. In this case is an AED going to help? This is coming from a new EMR that has only seen an AED used once and the patient was declared. So, if an AED is successful, what am I to expect? Should I see the patient regaining consciousness? Normal Sinus Rhythm returning to the heart but no breathing? I guess, my concern is, in my situation where I can't do much more than BLS Cardiac Protocol, is an AED really going to help that much, because no matter what the Patient is waiting at least a day to receive a higher level of care.

Also keep in mind that no matter what I am bringing an AED, I am just curious about this.
 
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Bosco836

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Arguably, the outcome will depend on a number of factors but, if the AED is successful at converting the heart into a rhythm (capable of sustaining life) then you should begin to notice signs of adequate circulation (i.e. the presence of a pulse).

Anything beyond that will depend on a multitude of other factors. The patient may (or may not) be able to breathe adequately on his or her own, and may or may not regain consciousness.
 
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FFEMT427

Forum Probie
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jbrynels said:
Hi All,

Sorry if this is a newbie question, but I am a newb.

As some of you may have seen in another post of mine, I am going on a two week sailing race from Victoria to Maui.

I am planning on bringing an AED, but I started thinking about it. Let's say that we have a cardiac arrest on the boat. It's not like I can administer adrenaline etc., so I begin cardiac protocol, and start shocking, but I am at least a day from any sort of outside assistance. In this case is an AED going to help? This is coming from a new EMR that has only seen an AED used once and the patient was declared. So, if an AED is successful, what am I to expect? Should I see the patient regaining consciousness? Normal Sinus Rhythm returning to the heart but no breathing? I guess, my concern is, in my situation where I can't do much more than BLS Cardiac Protocol, is an AED really going to help that much, because no matter what the Patient is waiting at least a day to receive a higher level of care.

Also keep in mind that no matter what I am bringing an AED, I am just curious about this.
Click to expand...

The most important factors for survival in cardiac arrest are early compressions and early defib during the cardiac arrest all the Epi (adrenaline) in the world will show no differance in outcome. By caring a AED onboard so that you can defib as early as possible and as long as you can maintain good hard fast compressions the biggest factor in the patients survival is going to be how fast you can get help there. After you shock begin CPR again immediately with compressions do not check a pulse until you start seeing signs of life or before the next rhythm check.
As for whether the patient will survive long term will depend on what the cause of arrest is and how far out from help you are
 
A

Aprz

The New Beach Medic
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