Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) & Automated External Defibrillator (AED)

By Ts. Ling, Thomas Kiong, MIEAust., PMP, MMIM.

Red box with the letter AED has now become commonly visible, especially in the public area. What exactly is an AED? AED is an acronym for Automated External Defibrillator which is used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. With medical technological advancement, it has now become possible for the defibrillator unit to be easily used by the public with minimal to no medical experience. It’s a sophisticated yet easy-to-use instrument to analyse heart rhythm and assist the first aider in providing necessary assistance to the victim to increase the chance of survival. Although the device can administer most of the heavy-lifting works in resuscitating cardiac arrest victims, properly trained first aider will still be extremely useful in handling such cases.