How to use the defibrillator in children in case of cardiorespiratory arrest
Defibrillators are small, lightweight devices that require minimal maintenance. The batteries last about 5 years or 300 downloads. They are usually found in public places very frequented, such as sports centers, shopping centers, bus or train stations, etc. And they serve in cases where there is som
Defibrillators are small, lightweight devices that require minimal maintenance. The batteries last about 5 years or 300 downloads. They are usually found in public places very frequented, such as sports centers, shopping centers, bus or train stations, etc. And they serve in cases where there is someone with cardiorespiratory arrest.
They are easy to use and can be handled, if necessary, by any citizen. Therefore, it is recommended that all citizens have a basis for the operation of both the use of the defibrillator, and the acquisition of the necessary skills to perform basic CPR (cardio-respiratory massage), to use both safely and effectively following the updated protocol of defibrillation.
We show you how you can use defibrillators in children.
How to use the defibrillator in children
In the presence of cardiorespiratory arrest, its prognosis is good if early defibrillation realiza is performed, which is why this procedure constitutes one of the most important links in the survival chain of children with a shockable rhythm In order to reinforce this link, theautomated defibrillation (DEA) or semiautomatic devices (DESA) have been developed. Both defibrillators will proceed to analyze the heart rate and if they consider that defibrillation is indicated, they differ in that the AED will warn that it charges, that nobody touches the patient and will proceed to apply the
discharge , while a DESA will warn of what load , that nobody touches the patient, and that the rescuer press the download button.When a child falls unconscious, and we do not know the reason, we have to
follow a series of steps to know what to do: 1. We will always ask for
help before .2. We will check if the child breathes.
3. If you breathe, we will place it in a lateral safety position and call
emergencies .4. If you do not breathe, we would start to perform
CPR while someone gets us a defibrillator, or in the case that we are alone, and if cardiac arrest has not been seen, CPR will be performed for 2 minutes before leave the child to activate the emergency system and look for the defibrillator. 5. Once we have the defibrillator, provided it is
pediatric or with an energy modulator, it consists of turning it on, discovering the child's chest and placing the patches as indicated by the drawings of the defibrillator: one on the right shoulder, below of the clavicle and the other about 10 cm below the left axilla. The defibrillator will start talking, you should always stay calm and follow the order of the instructions. 6. We should not
interrupt the CPR maneuver until the defibrillator tells us not to touch the child, since he is analyzing the heart rate. 7. If the defibrillator tells us that the discharge is necessary, it will notify us with
auditory or visual signals, and it will be automatically loaded, always bearing in mind that the patient should not be touched at any time during the rhythm analysis process. nor of the shock; and in case the shock is not necessary, it will order that we continue with the CPR. Tras 8. After the download, we will continue the CPR immediately until the machine tells us to stop again to analyze the rhythm and repeat the previous process, or until emergency services arrive.
Ventricular fibrillation (
FV) is an infrequent arrhythmia in cardiac arrest in young children that occurs outside the hospital. However, several recent studies have found that the incidence of a shockable rhythm oscillates between 10 and 20% of cases of pediatric cardiac arrest, both in the hospital and outpatient setting. Although the incidence of VF in children may seem low, the chances of success of CPR when there is a shockable rhythm, andearly defibrillation
are performed, are much higher than when the victim is in asystole or pulseless electrical activity ; hence the importance of this procedure.
