Statement on the use of
     Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)
     until re-programming to be compliant
     with Guidelines 2005
 
     Updated April 2006 

New guidelines on the use of AEDs were published by the Resuscitation Council (UK) in December 2005. These were based on Guidelines 2005, an international consensus on treatment during resuscitation attempts, published electronically in the UK, Europe and the United States on 28th November 2005.

Several of the new treatment recommendations represent significant changes in the way resuscitation is delivered. For example, a change in the sequence of defibrillation from three stacked shocks to a single shock, followed immediately by 2-minutes CPR before rhythm assessment, and a further shock if indicated.

It is recommended that users of AEDs follow the voice prompts and other instructions provided by the machine. It is recognised, however, that there will often be a delay before AEDs can be reprogrammed so that the instructions are compliant with the new (2005) guidelines. In some cases, particularly with older equipment, such reprogramming may be impossible or uneconomic to undertake.

The updated treatment recommendations in Guidelines 2005 do not define the only way that successful resuscitation may be achieved; they merely represent a widely-held view of how resuscitation can be undertaken both safely and effectively. The priority for patients in ventricular fibrillation is to deliver an effective shock with the minimum of delay. The regime used to do this may vary, and several methods that provide this are acceptable.

The Resuscitation Council (UK) recognises that the AED algorithms published in 2000 and in 2005 are both capable of providing acceptable standards of treatment. It is, therefore, appropriate to use an AED programmed to the 2000 guidelines while waiting for it to be reprogrammed or if it is incapable of modification but is still serviceable.

Until AEDs (and training AEDs) have been reprogrammed, AEDs compliant with earlier guidelines should continue to be used. Similarly, AEDs incapable of modification may be used until the end of their useful life. In both cases it is imperative that their users are adequately trained.

Instructors on AED provider courses should teach their trainees to follow the voice prompts given by the machine. As the transition to the new guidelines is made, there will inevitably be some variation in practice, both within and among healthcare organisations and other providers of first aid.
 
 
April 2006
 

 
 
 

	© Resuscitation Council (UK)  2006   This page last updated: 19 April 2006