When we travel, we often find such devices in airports, shopping malls, subway stations and other public places. Usually it is hung on the wall or placed in the corner, with a prominent “AED” logo and graphic instructions in several languages. You may not think that such devices have saved the lives of thousands of people when you pass by in a hurry. Those of you who have read the previous issues are no longer familiar with the term “sudden cardiac death”. When such an emergency occurs around us, the first response is undoubtedly to perform hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)! The vast majority of sudden cardiac deaths are due to malignant arrhythmias, 80% of which are due to ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation, referred to as ventricular fibrillation, is a loss of normal pumping function due to irregular fibrillation of the heart, and the systemic organs can fail rapidly due to loss of blood supply. For ventricular fibrillation, conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (artificial respiration + chest compressions) alone can maintain minimal circulatory function, but it does not end ventricular fibrillation and restore the normal beating of the heart. Statistical studies have shown that if ventricular fibrillation persists for every 1 minute, the survival rate decreases by 7-10%. At this time, electrical defibrillation is the most effective way to terminate ventricular fibrillation. I believe we have seen many times in movies and American dramas that doctors are scrambling to save a patient with a defibrillator, and this detail is not exaggerated in any way. But many patients are in ventricular fibrillation outside the hospital, many ventricular fibrillation patients sent to the hospital before the opportunity to save lost, so the AED as opposed to the hospital defibrillators need to be operated by professionals, the AED came into being. AED is an acronym for Automated External Defibrillator. As the name implies, it is a device that automatically identifies ventricular fibrillation and discharges to defibrillate. It automatically analyzes the patient’s ECG activity to determine if ventricular fibrillation is occurring, and if it is, it automatically discharges to defibrillate. Because it is designed to be operated by non-professionals, the AED has been fully automated, it is very simple to operate, and there must be easy to read and understand graphic instructions posted on the machine. Usually only need to apply electrode pads to the patient, the machine can automatically complete the entire process from identification to defibrillation if necessary, while also providing the rescuer with notes on the operation by voice. It is worth reminding that before the AED starts to discharge, the operation of chest compressions must not be interrupted, and if the patient still does not have a pulse after defibrillation, chest compressions must be continued immediately until it discharges again or the pulse is restored. At present, compared with developed countries, the penetration rate of AEDs in public places in China is still very low. Our country already has a public electric defibrillation program (PAD), and more and more public places will have AEDs in the future. readers may be willing to stop for a few minutes to read the instructions when they see such a machine on the street. We believe that you, who have read our Healthy Heartbeat, will be a strong line of defense in guarding a healthy heartbeat!