AED In the Home

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• Your risk of sudden cardiac death. Your doctor can help you understand if you or a family member has a condition that may put you at higher risk of cardiac arrest or if you're leading a lifestyle that could cause heart problems. Remember that AEDs work only for cardiac arrest that involves specific types of heart fibrillation. It will not revive everyone in cardiac arrest. And with certain types of heart disease, you may need a defibrillator that's actually implanted in your chest instead of an external device for emergencies. • Your living arrangements. If you live alone, an automated external defibrillator will be of little use if you experience cardiac arrest — there won't be anyone to use the machine on you. • Your physical abilities. You or a family member must have the flexibility and strength to sit or squat on the floor, use the device, and get back up. • Your costs. Automated external defibrillators can be expensive, costing about $1,500. Health insurance doesn't generally pick up the tab. • Your overall health and philosophy. If you have numerous medical problems, a terminal illness or a very weak heart that has not responded to treatment, you may decide that you wouldn't want to be resuscitated from sudden cardiac death.Second, tips on how to maintain your in-home AED If you decide to get an automated external defibrillator for your home, with or without your doctor's approval, make sure you learn how to use it and maintain it properly. If you don't, an AED will be of little use in an emergency.Here are some tips for your automated external defibrillator: • Don't rely only on instructional material provided with the AED. Enroll yourself and your family members in a community education course to learn how to use your automated external defibrillator properly. This will also allow you to come to the rescue if someone experiences cardiac arrest in a public place and there's an AED nearby. • Take the automated external defibrillator to your doctor's office and demonstrate how you and your family would use it, to make sure you're using it correctly. • Have a family practice run using the automated external defibrillator as you would in an actual emergency. Remember, the AED works only on certain types of cardiac arrest. Know what steps to take if the AED indicates a shock isn't needed but the person remains unresponsive. • Review your automated external defibrillator instructional material every three to six months to make sure you remember how to use the AED. • Store your automated external defibrillator in an easily accessible place and make sure all family members know where it is. Be careful if you take it with you on outings, such as shopping or dining — you risk damaging or losing it. • Keep the automated external defibrillator maintained properly, including installation of new batteries as needed. • Learn CPR. Take a course to learn the signs of cardiac arrest, how and when to summon emergency responders and how to perform CPR.

It's easy to have an AED in your home

First, should you have an AED in your home?

For its part, the American Heart Association supports doing away with the prescription requirement for automated external defibrillators. However, the organization says there's not enough information available yet to actually recommend for or against using AEDs in the home. A large clinical trial currently studying home AEDs may provide some answers, but the trial won't conclude for several more years.Until then, how do you decide if you should buy an automated external defibrillator for your home? Is an AED, as some advertisements suggest, just one more essential safety device, like a fire extinguisher or smoke alarm, that everyone should have in their home?There's no specific list of criteria to decide if an automated external defibrillator would be appropriate for your home. But here are some things to keep in mind as you consider whether to buy an automated external defibrillator for your home:

• Only the Philips HeartStart On-Site Home Defibrillator is available without a prescription.

Philips On-Site Defibrillator

• Other brands require a prescription because the FDA hasn't found that they can be used safely and effectively by a layperson without formal training. Prescription AEDs are not intended for home use, but rather for use by emergency crews or for installation in public places. Don't be lured by unscrupulous Web sites or other sellers offering other AEDs without a prescription.

Click here now to purchase your own in-home On-Site lifesaver