"Syd Rumpo" wrote in message
...
On 11/11/2015 12:28, F Murtz wrote:

snip

Don't these [AEDs] send info on body functions back to base even if
shock bit not required that can assist informing person at site what to
do?

If we're talking about existing publicly available AEDs, no. They
announce something like, "No shock required, continue CPR".

Which covers you: you already know that a shock will not help and may even
be contra-indicated, but to cover yourself you can go through the motions of
using the AED and drawing a witness's attention to the message as
explanation of why you are only doing CPR.

People like you are invaluable. I survived a heart attack and lengthy
cardiac arrest only because my wife (who was my girlfriend at the time) had
done a first aid course when she was in her teens and could remember enough
to keep me alive (with guidance from the 999 operator as regards rhythm and
placement of her hands) until the ambulance eventually arrived. Even the
ambulance crew didn't manage to get my heart beating: they worked on me
alternately for over an hour, administering all the adrenaline they had, and
only did a "scoop and run" trip to A&E as a last resort when a second
ambulance with replacement adrenaline didn't arrive. Fortunately A&E got my
heart beating of its own accord and I was rushed to a larger hospital for
specialised intensive care to cool my body temperature to help my organs
survive the trauma of low oxygen supply.

And I survived - there were a few panics along the way when the doctors
thought I was suffering kidney failure until they discovered that the urine
output tube had got kinked (!), and they were not optimistic about whether
I'd suffered brain damage. My wife said she went home one night expecting
the worst and came in the following morning to see me give her a big grin of
recognition. Mind you, I can't have been quite myself because the first
words I mouthed to her (I couldn't talk because of a tracheostomy) were
"marry me" ;-) It was scary to wake up in hospital knowing that there were
recent memories (eg where we'd been for a holiday the previous month) that
were completely gone, but subtle hints suddenly made my memories return and
I remembered everything.