The lifesaving device most of us don’t have at home.

As a sports-certified chiropractor, I am required to get CPR certified every two years. The classes consist of updated emergency procedures for choking, drowning or in case of cardiac arrest.

Over the past few years, the emphasis has been on using a defibrillator which offers the best chance at reviving someone whose heart is in fibrillation or has stopped beating.

Most organizations now have a defibrillator either in their hallways or when I was involved in Track and Field, the organization always had one on-site for use in the medical area.

While CPR can save a life by making sure the blood continues to circulate in the body and in many cases, a regular heart rhythm can be established, a defibrillator is more likely to succeed and improve the chances for survival.

Defibrillators elicit a shock to the heart to restore normal beating or rhythm. At a cost of $1500 or more, most families are unlikely to have one in the home although companies such as American AED do offer used refurbished units for under 700 dollars. Another site that offers value is eBay which had some units for under $500 dollars.

While it may be impractical for the average family to want to maintain an AED, if it saved the life of even one family member, it may be a worthwhile investment.

Modern AEDs are easy to use and the device will talk you through the procedure and tell you when to stay clear of the patient before it provides an impulse.

The NY Time4s recently discussed AEDs for the home and why someone would want to own one. Check out the article below

These Devices Save Lives, but Almost Nobody Has One at Home

While researchers are divided over whether more people should have automated external defibrillators at home, those who have used one have no doubts.

By Gina KolataApril 11, 2023

On the evening of Jan. 15, 2021, in a remote Arizona desert town, Christine Benton saved a life.

She and her husband, Brian Benton, were traveling the country in a recreational vehicle and had parked near other R.V.ers at a winery in Willcox. As the couple were eating dinner, someone started shouting from an R.V. behind them. A woman had collapsed and was in cardiac arrest. She had no pulse. Frantic, her husband called 911 while two other people started cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

“She looked like she was gone,” said Ms. Benton, a retired paramedic firefighter.

But Ms. Benton had made a consequential decision before she and her husband started out: She had bought a personal automated external defibrillator, or A.E.D., which can shock a person’s heart back to life if it suddenly stops beating. Her plan was to keep it with her, just in case. It was expensive, it was highly unlikely she would ever use it and her husband was hesitant. But she was adamant.