Plausible....With old defib machines
But the newer machines won't allow you to shock,unless the heart is in Pulseless ventricular tachycardia .
( bane, Sat 22 Jan 2011, 23:45, 2 replies)

thats easy for you to say

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Sun 23 Jan 2011, 1:00, closed)

It bloody wasn't...
I had to google the spelling.
( bane, Sun 23 Jan 2011, 13:20, closed)

haha

( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Mon 24 Jan 2011, 10:41, closed)

I feel obliged as a so-called 'medical professional' to comment on many of these stories...

Only the automated defibrillators will not (hopefully) shock someone with a normal heart rhythm - they'll shock ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia (not necessarily pulseless though...). Manual ones are exactly that, manual, which is what you'd get in A&E, because with trained staff to use them, they're much quicker.

The story is possible, but unlikely.
(suxamethonium, Sun 23 Jan 2011, 13:36, closed)

Yeah...
...what suxamethonium said. I use a LifePak 12 and you're looking at shocking VF and VT. We often use them in manual mode and as suxamethonium said they are exactly that - manually operated with the joule setting and shock delivery. The story seems unlikely though, probably one of those urban myths. The current batch of automated defibrillators are pretty good and wouldn't shock someone with a normal heart rhythm.

BTW - Don't you just love those movies where they shock a patient who is 'flatlining' (asystole)?!
Does not happen in real life as it's pointless.
(emadex thinks the world will end on, Sun 23 Jan 2011, 15:49, closed)