When is an AED needed?

AEDs are used to revive someone from sudden cardiac arrest. This usually occurs when a disruption in the heart's electrical activity causes a dangerously fast heartbeat (ventricular tachycardia) or a fast and irregular heartbeat (ventricular fibrillation). If you're having one of these irregular heart rhythms, your heart doesn't pump effectively and may even stop.

When this happens, your brain and other vital organs don't get the blood and oxygen they need, and you can even die if you don't get treatment within minutes. The sooner your heart's normal rhythm is restored, the greater the chance that you won't have permanent damage to your brain and other organs.

If you're having ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia and an AED is nearby, a bystander in a public place or a family member can use it to jolt your heart back to a normal rhythm and possibly save your life.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after cardiac arrest can keep blood flowing to your heart and brain for a time. But often only defibrillation can restore the heart's normal rhythm. Together these treatments can improve your chances of survival.