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SHINE
Winter 2015–2016
Did you know using an AED (automated external defibrillator) within the
first few minutes of cardiac arrest improves a person’s chance of survival
by as much as 70 percent?
“The No. 1 predictor of success or survival in an out-of-hospital
cardiac event is how quickly a defibrillator is used,” says Sumeet
Chhabra, MD, cardiac electrophysiologist on the medical staff at
Methodist Richardson Medical Center.
An AED is a small, portable device used to check someone’s cardiac
rhythm and deliver a shock, if needed. They have become common
at schools, shopping centers, airports, office buildings, and other
public areas.
After John Fina’s near-fatal cardiac arrest, his soccer teammate Carlos
Navarro, DDS, donated an AED to the facility where they play.
Steps to use an AED
“AEDs are purposely automated to be user-friendly,” Dr. Chhabra says,
so you don’t have to be a medical professional to use an AED. The
lifesaving tool will audibly talk you through the steps.
Here are the basic steps to use an AED:
➊
Call 911.
Get emergency medical services on the way.
➋
Determine if the collapsed person is breathing.
If the person is breathing,
you know he or she has a pulse. If the person is not breathing, clear
the airway and start CPR.
➌
Locate an AED.
If there is a defibrillator nearby, ask a bystander to
take over CPR while you follow the audible instructions to apply the
electrode pads to the victim’s bare chest.
➍
Make some space.
If the AED
determines a shock is necessary,
make sure everyone is clear of the
patient when the shock is delivered.
➎
Check the AED.
The AED will tell
you if you should continue CPR.
Follow its audible instructions
until help arrives.
perfect storm,” Dr. Chhabra says.
“And now with a weakened heart
muscle, he was at risk for another
cardiac event.”
Dr. Chhabra recommended John
have an implantable cardioverter
defibrillator (ICD) connected to his
heart. If the organ stopped again, the
ICD would send an electrical shock to
jump-start it.
“This is how I’d advise someone
in my own family,” Dr. Chhabra
told John.
Championing life
Fast-forward six months and John was
back on that same soccer field where
he collapsed. His wife, Mary, says the
ICD gives her confidence.
“I am relieved,” she says. “The
doctors assured me that he was in better
shape now to play soccer than before.”
John now plays soccer twice a
week with those same buddies who
tried to revive him and still mean the
world to him. But now, he has a new
outlook on life.
“I tell everybody who worries
about money or retirement, or
this and that, that there’s nothing
more important than life,” he says.
“Forget about everything else.
Life is precious.”
— Continued from previous page
CARDIAC CARE
KEEPING SCORE
Could your heart be at risk? Find a physician at Methodist Richardson to get your biometric numbers checked.
Call
214-947-6296
or visit
Answers2.org.
AED
Save a life
with an