Rational for early defibrillation

[mobey]

I only find it scary if the put it on someone with a pulse.

if they are pulseless and apniec (indications for public AED), there is only so much damage they can do. Hey if the AED thinks the asystole is fine v-fib and shocks it.... so what. Now if it interupts CPR then mistakes V-Fib for asystole and suggests *no shock* then we have a problem.

Hmmm..... turns out I don't know what my opinion is!!

[Richard B the EMT]

I remember when the first automatic Defibs came out, with one wire to a large electrode patch to the patient's back, and the other to an Oropharyngeal Airway (OPA) made of metal. Supposedly, while carrying a patient down a long uninterrupted flight of stairs, during the unit's field trials, the crew suddenly hears the machine saying "STAND CLEAR", and the unit charging for a jolt.

I did say this was in the middle of a stairway with no landing to get to, to drop the carry device without injury to either of the crew, or further injury to the patient, prior to the machine discharging into the patient?