EARLY AUTOMATIC EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATION - CAN SAVE A LIFE
Keywords:
automatic defibrillator, fibrillation, early defibrillation, cardiac arrestAbstract
Automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) are devices intended for emergency first aid by both qualified and non-medical personnel. Statistical studies prove that more than 90% of accidents occur outside hospitals, and in 70% of them the cause is the occurrence of heart fibrillation - loss of the normal rhythm, which can have a fatal outcome. The surest way to stop fibrillation is to apply a short-term powerful electrical impulse (electroshock) through electrodes placed on the victim's chest. The first 8-10 minutes are of decisive importance for the victim's life, which leads to the need to provide AED in large public areas, to be used by the first witnesses of the accident - pre-trained persons, such as policemen, security guards, volunteers. Objective: To investigate awareness and public attitudes to participate in early defibrillation training in special programs. Material and methods: 175 respondents from 6 regional cities in Northern Bulgaria were studied in the period May - July 2023. Survey, historical and statistical methods were used. Results and discussion: 54.3% of the respondents have no information about AAD and its application. In the surveyed cities, a total of 78.9% of respondents do not know and have not seen automatic external defibrillators installed in public places. 72% of respondents believe that medical personnel or citizens with non-medical education, trained in special programs, should work with these devices. 61.7% do not have information on conducting training for early defibrillation under specialized programs in the relevant regional centers. The information received and the demonstration in places allowed 81.7% of the respondents to perceive the idea of placing VAD in public places as very good and good, and 55.4% of the respondents would participate in specialized training, because saving human life is extremely humane. Conclusion: Awareness and education increase the chances of survival for people with cardiac arrest. Organized trainings are provided to employees and even students. With this initiative, it is possible to increase the chance of survival of people with cardiac arrest in the future. The use of automated external defibrillators is an important advance in effectively saving human lives.
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