First responders using a Defibrillator in ‘good faith’ have no liability issues and cannot be sued in Australia.

Defibrillators are designed to administer a shock to a patient – only if they need it.

Defibrillator shock settings cannot be changed, so a shock cannot be given to a patient even if mistakes are made by first responders. There is no liability on the First Aid responder if the casualty does not survive.

An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) will not ‘shock’ someone if they do not need it, so the AED cannot cause more injury to the casualty.

Organisations installing a AED do not need to worry about a Defibrillator accidentally shocking someone or hurting a patient as they have been designed for public use by everyday people.

When a Defibrillator is used in an emergency ‘The Good Samaritan Act’ is applicable. The act acknowledges First responders acting in good faith at their own level of training – even if not trained, the act recognises the stress and having to respond quickly to help someone!

The Good Samaritan Act

A Good Samaritan is defined as ‘as a person acting without expecting financial or other reward for providing assistance. Although jurisdictional differences exist, Volunteers are generally defined as a member of a Volunteer organisation performing voluntary community work.’

Protection of good Samaritans in Australia is provided through the following State and Territory Acts:

• New South Wales – Civil Liability Act 2002
• Victoria – Wrongs Act 1958
• Queensland – Law Reform Act 1995 (Qld) s 16 and Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) s 26
• Western Australia – Civil Liability Act 2002
• South Australia – Good Samaritans (Limitation of Liability) Bill 2002
• Tasmania – Civil Liability Act 2002
• Australian Capital Territory – Civil Law (Wrongs) Bill 2002
• Northern Territory – Personal Injuries (Liabilities and Damages) Act

The Australian Resuscitation Council through its ANZCOR Guideline 10.5 details information on Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Resuscitation.

A defibrillator is a fault finding device and will not shock a patient unless their heart requires a shock, the way a defibrillator has been designed makes it fool proof, it analyses the heart of the patient to identify if the heart is fibrillating in an abnormal rhythm, and will only shock if the heart is fibrillating.

If the defibrillator can’t find a fibrillating heart rhythm,  then it will not shock the patient. Making defibrillators 100% safe for anyone to use. 

We are asked on a regular basis, when is the right time to use a defibrillator on a patient?

If a person goes into cardiac arrest, then the heart stops functioning effectively, this causes the patient to loose blood pressure and have no blood circulation – Brain and heart damage occurs in a matter of minutes.

DO NOT PUT A DEFIBRILLATOR ON FIRST

The patient needs CPR, this will circulate blood through the body and help to prevent tissue death in the heart and brain-“Time is Heart and Brain”- Scott Whimpey – Director FAAE.

Once CPR has been started, now is the time to apply the Defibrillator, making sure that CPR continues while the pads are applied to the patient. Much like a pool pump loosing function, we need to prime the pump first before we start it up.

Studies show that the more we stop CPR in the first 10 minutes, the more brain and heart damage occurs, we need to minimise interruptions to compressions in the initial stages of a resuscitation.

The Chain of Survival is recognised by the Australian Resuscitation Council as the most important steps in a resuscitation to increase the chance of survival from a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). These steps are simple and should be implemented for a patient that is not responsive and not breathing.

1- Call for help- Call 000 as soon as possible

2- Start CPR- this will help to push blood to the brain and prevent brain damage

3- Apply the Defibrillator and follow the prompts

FAAE encourages your organisation to display these steps next to your Defibrillator to prompt rescuers to respond in an effective manner.

Contact us for a free ‘Using a Defibrillator’ wall chart on 07 55205068

What does AED mean?

This is a term or acronym to abbreviate the Defibrillator

Automated – This means Automatic, an AED will do its job automatically. Unlike a manual defibrillator that requires the operator to know heart rhythms, hospital would use a manual device on a patient to analyse the heart rhythm to look at the ECG.

External – This means used externally from the patient

Defibrillator – Means to de-fibrillate the heart and restore normal heart function.

FAAE recommends that this sign is displayed in your organisation to let everyone know that you have a defibrillator and where its stored.

Defibrillators are very easy to use.

Once you switch the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) on, it will tell you exactly what to do via verbal and visual prompts.

This will usually begin with the defibrillator prompting you to call for help and expose the patients chest, it will then instruct you to apply the adhesive pads to the chest of the patient. You’ll then be prompted to ‘not touch the patient’ as the AED is analysing the heart rhythm of the patient and may deliver a shock.

Once this has happened the AED will instruct you to perform CPR. Our defibrillators will guide you through this stage of the resuscitation to help ensure you are performing the CPR correctly and at the right pace.

A Defibrillator fault finds the heart of the patient to identify if the heart is fibrillating in an abnormal rhythm.

If the defibrillator finds the heart fibrillating in either Ventricular Fibrillation (VT) or Ventricular Fibrillation (VF), it will trigger a program in the Defibrillator and prompt a shock to be delivered through the patients heart. This shock is delivered in a special way that’s called Bi-Phasic, this means 2 smaller shocks that are milliseconds apart, the first shock is designed to de-sensitise the heart and stop the fibrillation and the second shock is designed to re-trigger the heart in a normal beating – pumping rhythm.

The energy of the shock that comes form the defibrillator also varies, this is called escalating energy, the first shock from a defibrillator is small for smaller patients, the second shock is larger and the third is usually maximum output of the device – somewhere between 200j to 360j of energy.

The cost of a defibrillator will depend on the make and model. Here at First Aid Accident & Emergency, the defibrillators and defibrillator bundle packs we stock vary in price. Our defibrillator Bundles are available in our online shop and prices start from below $2000.

Yes, defibrillators are available for purchase for personal use. At FAAE, we stock a range of defibrillators and defibrillator packs which are perfect to keep at home, work or to carry with you in your vehicle.

No, one of the biggest myths associated with defibrillators is that they restart the heart once it has completed stopped—this is not correct. Defibrillators work to identify any irregular fibrillating heart rhythms (like those that occur during a Sudden Cardiac Arrest) and then shock the heart so that it can return to its natural rhythm. Defibrillator don’t look for a ‘flat lined heart ‘ and cant shock it back to life, drugs are used in this case.

The main types of defibrillators available include semi-automatic, fully automatic and manual options. There are many different defibrillator manufacturers these days, so there will always be a slight variation between the different makes of defibs. Here at FAAE, we stock Physio Control LIFEPAK defibrillators and HeartSine defibrillators.