Using a defibrillator, step by step

Before the AED

Triple Zero and CPR come first

healthdirect’s AED steps begin with the machine already beside the person. They assume someone has called Triple Zero (000) for an ambulance and that CPR has started: they tell you to continue CPR after the shock and keep going until the ambulance arrives.

When and how to call Triple Zero (000) and start CPR, for an adult, a child or a baby, is on healthdirect’s page on how to perform CPR.

In Victoria, Ambulance Victoria says the Triple Zero call-taker will talk you through doing CPR and using an AED.

The procedure

healthdirect’s steps for using an AED

Retold in plain words, in healthdirect’s order, with nothing left out. Before the numbered steps, healthdirect says two things:

• The AED will tell you out loud what to do, and it usually comes with pictures to guide you.
• Anyone can use an AED, and an AED has to be used together with CPR.

1. Take off all the clothing covering the person’s chest.

2. Put the pads (the electrodes) on the person’s body. The AED tells you where they go.

3. Listen to what the AED tells you while it checks the person’s heartbeat.

4. The AED may say that a shock is needed. Make sure the space around the person is clear. While the AED is in use, do not touch the person: touching them could interfere with how the AED reads their heart.

5. Once the shock has been given, go on with CPR, and keep it up until the ambulance gets there. When it arrives, a paramedic will take over.

6. Keep listening to the AED. It may sometimes tell you to give more than one shock.

Limits

What these steps do not cover

Children and babies

healthdirect’s AED steps state no age rule. They say nothing about children or babies, so this sheet does not suggest they cover them.

A separate healthdirect page, on CPR, does give rules for children: children older than 8 can have a standard adult AED and adult pads; for children under 8, the ideal is children’s (paediatric) pads and an AED that has a children’s setting, and if these are not available, use the adult AED. For babies under 1 year, the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network says it is unlikely in most cases that you will need a defibrillator, and the Australian Resuscitation Council’s guideline on defibrillation sets out what applies.

How to do CPR

The steps assume CPR is under way and tell you to carry on with it, but they do not teach it. healthdirect’s CPR page does, and healthdirect calls CPR a skill everyone can learn.

Finding an AED

The steps start with an AED beside the person. Registers that help a caller find the nearest one, and where AEDs should be mounted, are on the sheet for defibrillators in public places.

Two facts

Two facts worth carrying in

NSW Health: “You cannot hurt someone by using a defibrillator.” The Queensland Ambulance Service: a defibrillator cannot shock someone whose heartbeat is normal.

In healthdirect’s steps, the AED checks the heart and says whether a shock is needed; the person using it keeps the area clear, keeps CPR going and keeps listening. What an AED is, and why minutes count, is on the sheet for defibrillators explained.