Defibrillators TRUE or FALSE ?

You can be sued for using a defibrillator - FALSE

This is a complete myth, no-one has ever been sued for using a defibrillator anywhere in the world.

You can be sued for not having a defibrillator in your place of work, public area etc - TRUE

This is absolute fact. Even though there are no such cases which have been to court here in HK yet, anyone who has a business that employs staff or interacts with the general public is liable to a large lawsuit if someone suffers from an SCA on their premises. It is just as matter of time.

Defibrillators haven't saved anyone I know before, so they can't save anyone in the future - FALSE

Completely false, as soon as defibrillators are introduced into communities they start saving lives, even if they haven't been there in the past.

Defibrillators are just for old people - FALSE

Anyone can suffer from a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Not just old people. SCAs can be caused by shock, electric shock, near drownings, falls or any number of accidents.

Defibrillators can save everyone whose heart has stopped - FALSE

Some people just die, defibrillators can improve a person's chance of recovery, but they can't start every heart.

If I use a defibrillator and the person does not recover I can get sued - FALSE

Totally false, no-one has ever been sued for a victim not being revived by a defibrillator. The unit also records all the data of the incident, so it can be shown that everything was done to try and save the victim.

It is impossible for a defibrillator to hurt someone - FALSE

If you pick up a defibrillator and smack someone around the head with it, it will probably hurt them, but it wont give them an electrical shock!

The defibrillator can only shock dead people - TRUE

Absolutely true, the units software can only advise a shock on someone who is dead, so what have they got to lose?

Our legal department advises us not to get an AED, and they know what they're talking about -FALSE

Legal departments are surprisingly ignorant about defibrillators in Asia and often know next to nothing about them. When considering getting a unit, ask your legal department for hard evidence on why you shouldn't get one.... you may be surprised to find that they can't produce anything.
p.s.. if they can produce something, please send it to us and we will publish it.

Defibrillators are expensive - FALSE

We at Asia Safety Management Ltd are the first in the region to offer these life-savings products at "published" affordable prices.
See our packages and costs page.

We don't need one because the emergency services are so good here - FALSE

It's true, ambulances are good, but they still operate well outside the optimum time for defibrillation. If you can use a defibrillator within less than 12 mins, preferably less than 4mins, then the chances of that person surviving are drastically increased.
An ambulances can usually get to an address within 18mins. Well outside the time window for recovery. The ambulance arrives just in time to bring out the body-bag.
NOTE: Ambulance times are recorded from the time they are despatched, until the time they reach the address, not the time they reach the casualty. Lifts, stairs etc.. all add on valuable time.

In the future defibrillators will be as common as fire-extinguishers - TRUE

This is actually a mis-leading fact, as comparing a defibrillator to a fire-extinguisher is a little unfair.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest kills more people than fire, car wrecks, handguns, cancer and aids combined. So it goes without saying that they will be more common than a fire-extinguisher.

Defibrillators are hard to use? - FALSE