Manual defibrillators
Implantable defibrillators cardioverter (ICDs)
Manual defibrillators or defibrillator paddles? are typically used by physicians in the emergency room. Many popular television programs demonstrate emergency personnel shouting Clear! before using the defibrillator paddles. This is done because people touching the person about to receive the shock may receive a shock themselves.
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This is done because people touching the person about to receive the shock may receive a shock themselves.
Manual defibrillators are also used in non–emergency situations in a procedure called elective cardioversion. In this procedure, shocks are used electively to restore normal heart patterns in patients with non-emergency arrhythmias (e.g., atrial fibrillation).
In contrast with manual defibrillators, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are surgically implanted in people?s chests. ICDs are similar in many respects to pacemakers, which also correct an abnormal heart rhythm. However, pacemakers are usually chosen to correct a heart rhythm that is too slow (bradycardia), whereas ICDs are commonly used to detect and correct a heart rhythm that is too fast (tachycardia). In potentially fatal cases, the ICD can deliver an electric shock (defibrillation) to ?reset? the heartbeat. Pacemakers cannot deliver the high energy electrical shock required for defibrillation.
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