@paramedicsophie: 🚑🚁🚒 How Defibrillation Works Defibrillation delivers a controlled electrical shock to the heart. The goal is to “reset” the heart’s electrical system by depolarizing all cardiac cells at once, allowing the heart’s natural pacemaker (the sinoatrial node) to take over and re-establish a normal rhythm. Why VF and Pulseless VT Are Shockable 1️⃣ VF (Ventricular Fibrillation): • The heart’s electrical signals are completely chaotic, causing the ventricles to quiver instead of contracting. • This quivering prevents blood from being pumped, leading to cardiac arrest. • Defibrillation is highly effective because it stops the erratic signals, giving the heart a chance to restart a coordinated rhythm. 2️⃣ Pulseless VT (Ventricular Tachycardia): • The ventricles contract too quickly, leaving no time for the heart to fill with blood before pumping. • As a result, there’s no effective pulse or circulation. • Defibrillation can halt the abnormal rhythm, allowing the heart to reset and pump blood normally. Why We Don’t Defibrillate Other Rhythms 🚫 Asystole (“Flatline”): • There’s no electrical activity in the heart to “reset.” • Defibrillation can’t restart a heart with no activity. Instead, focus is on CPR, epinephrine, and addressing reversible causes (like hypoxia or electrolyte imbalances). 🚫 PEA (Pulseless Electrical Activity): • The heart has organized electrical activity but isn’t mechanically pumping blood (no pulse). • The problem isn’t the rhythm—it’s that the heart isn’t responding to the electrical signals. Defibrillation won’t help; instead, the focus is on CPR and finding/treating the underlying cause. 🫀Key Takeaway Defibrillation works by targeting chaotic or excessively rapid rhythms (VF and pulseless VT) where the heart’s electrical system is salvageable. In non-shockable rhythms (like asystole or PEA), the focus shifts to high-quality CPR and correcting the underlying cause, as defibrillation would not restore effective cardiac activity. 💡 Think of it as rebooting a computer: You can only reset a system that’s “on” but malfunctioning. If it’s completely off (asystole), you need to power it up another way! #ems #emt #paramedic #paramedicsoftiktok #paramedicsophie #emstiktok #firstresponders #emshumor #ambulance #paramediclife #emtsoftiktok #paramedics #emslife #emtschool #hems #flightmedic #emergencymedicine #firefighter #mediclife

Paramedic Sophie

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Saturday 04 January 2025 22:04:12 GMT