AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR (AED)
If an AED is available, the rescuer should appoint a bystander to run and get the AED while the rescuer is performing CPR. Follow these steps to use the AED:
- Assess the victim and determine if he is conscious. Stimulate by shaking or rubbing your fist hard on the sternum.
- Look, listen, and feel for breathing.
- If victim is lying in a wet or soaked area, move him to a dry area.
- Assign a bystander to call 9-1-1, and another bystander to get the AED. (At RNLL, we also have a mask to use for rescue breathing hanging from the AED bracket).
- Give 2 breaths if victim is not breathing.
- Begin chest compressions if there is no pulse. Continue cycle of 30 compressions to 2 breaths until the AED arrives.
- Open the AED case, use the scissors to cut off or open the victim’s shirt, and turn on the AED.
- Follow the voice directions of placing the AED pads, then follow the voice directions regarding whether a shock will be given. If it is, do not touch the victim during the shock. Continue CPR when directed to by the AED voice commands.
- Continue following the AED commands until paramedics arrive.
"You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and it turns out it was the other way around all the time."
-Jim Bouton, ballplayer/author
