Heart Defibrillator: What is a Defibrillator, Defibrillator Side Effects and More
A heart defibrillator is what most of us see in the movies when a patient needs a jolt of energy to get their heart beat back. Technically speaking, this is a machine used to deliver a therapeutic dose of electrical discharge to a victims heart depolarizing a large mass of cardiac muscle, restoring its normal rhythmic patterns or beating. Through the advent of technology, these machines are getting better and better to the point where it isn’t out of the ordinary for people to have home defibrillators.
What is a Defibrillator: Types of heart defibrillators
1.Hospital heart defibrillators: these are expensive machines which deliver voltage through two paddles which doctors place on a heart attack or SCA victim’s chest. Medical professionals like nurses and paramedics can also use this with ease because they are CPR trained.
2.Automated External Heart Defibrillators (AEDs) is a compact portable defibrillator contained in a box usually about the same size of a lunch box. It becomes handy in offices, gymnasiums, schools, and workout facilities. Most people can easily use this even without CPR training because there is a user-friendly instruction that is already included inside.
3. Portable Defibrillator: Generally what you see offered on websites such as Amazon by companies such as Philips, ZED, Allyn and others. These products generally are sold for under $1000 and are excellent options for those who want a home heart defibrillator for emergencies. While the prices may seem high, you can find some great deals by checking out some of the discounted defibrillators found from this website.
4. Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator: A heart defibrillator of this type is actually implanted in the patient and is generally only used for those who have issues with either ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia. While the process isn’t pleasant, it has proven to be a worthy operation of those who have cause for sudden cardiac death concern.
To learn more about what is a defibrillator, watch the video below:
Why Get a Heart Defibrillator?
According to the American Heart Association, about 700 Americans die each day as a result of SCA or sudden cardiac 
arrest. It is caused by a ventricular fibrillation a condition where there is a sudden shivering of the heart that prevents the hearts muscle from pumping blood throughout the body. This often makes the victim lose their consciousness. The victim needs various steps in order to survive. Cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) comes first, and when there is still no heartbeat, this is when the defibrillator takes action.
Myocardial Infarction (Heart attack) is the interruption of blood supply to a specific part of the heart causing cardiac cells to die. This is caused by the blockage of the coronary artery (the largest vein in the body) due to the deposition of lipids on the wall of the arteries.
Ventricular tachycardia (V-tach) is a condition where there is a fast rhythm of the heart that originates in one of the ventricles of the heart, which can lead to ventricular fibrillation, and sudden death.
Asystole (Flatline) is the state of absence of cardiac electrical activity, making the heart loses contraction hence no cardiac output or blood flow, because the heart is controlled by electrical signals from the brain. This condition is often used by doctors to certify clinical or legal death.
Unfortunately, when these conditions are not addressed very quickly, this may result to irreversible brain damage or even death of the victim. According to some research, each minute that will pass without defibrillation reduces the victims chance of survival by 10 percent. But thanks to this wonder tool that saves many lives and is very useful to patients especially to those with heart problems.
Heart defibrillator side effects
While defibrillators generally have limited side effects, they will never be 100% safe due to the nature of what they are.
The most dangerous side effect can come from using defibrillators for those still demonstrating heart activity. By doing so, you can cause abnormal heart rhythms and blood flow in the patients. While this side effect is generally temporary, you want to display caution for those who already have weakened hearts.
A minor side effect is that hospital defibrillators can sometimes lead to minor skin burns from the paddles that are linked to the heart defibrillators.
