Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator (AED)
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Product Reviews of Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator (AED)
Product Review: LEARN CPR!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
I am an EMT and retired Hospital Administrator.
Like the first reviewer I view marketing this without the proper training to be irresponsible.
If the person has a Myocardial Infarction, resulting in a true "flat line" ECG a Defibrillator is useless without the proper drugs which have to be given intraveniously or injected directly into the heart to start random heart activity.
Only then can a defibrillator shock the heart into proper pumping action.
The most important thing a layman can do is learn CPR. If you can keep OXYGEN going into the lungs and then circulate that oxygen to the brain and heart (PUMPING) you have done the ONLY really important thing. If people use this for a Myocardial Infarction, INSTEAD of IMMEDIATELY starting effective CPR, the TIME Philips causes them to waste deprives the brain of oxygen and dooms the patient.
I've defibed scores of patients but NEVER successfully unless two people had already done CPR until we could get the drugs injected first.
The gentleman with the implanted device does not have a Myocardial Infarction ...just an electrical arrythmia which the little battery in his device can sense and "retime" the heart....thats a whole different thing.
For an MI learn to do CPR properly. If you can get oxygen to the brain you can keep the person in a salvagable state until properly trained persons with ALL the tools, heart stimulants, bicarbonate to return the blood to it's proper Ph etc can arrive and the defibrillation have a chance of working.
Phillips can market this thing only because it has a computer which keeps it from working when it shouldn't so the FDA figured it's harmless. BUT IF IT WASTES TIME in starting CPR, it's NOT harmless.
Buy the RED CROSS First Aid Manual
Product Review: I'm not sure if everyone needs one for their home ...
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an individual at high risk of sudden cardiac arrest. I don't own a personal defibrillator but I have the implant in my chest. My implanted defibrillator and pacemaker is tuned up every 3 months by my cardiologist. The implant needs a new battery every 3-4 years so I have to undergo chest surgery at that time. The implant hurt like the devil after they installed it, but after 6 weeks it stopped hurting so much. My point is, if you are at high risk, why don't you get the implant? Do you need a scary electric device laying around that you may not be sure if you're using it right if you ever do use it? Have you had your first heart attack yet? Have you discussed this purchase with your cardiologist? If the answers to these last four questions is no, then maybe you should see a cardiologist first before you make the purchase. If you have not had a heart problem so far, and you're worried about it, see your doctor, maybe change your diet, stop smoking, etc. I think if you're shopping for this machine, maybe the implant is a better choice. The implant does it all for you and brings you back alive, without any intervention, unlike the product which needs someone nearby who knows how to use it properly.
Update 12/29/08: I recently visited my cardiologist and had my machine readout printed up, and was informed that on August 9, 2008, at about 5:00 a.m., my implanted defibrillator jolted my heart until it began to beat again and that the implant had saved my life. I did not wake up. My cardiologist informed me that without the implant, I would have passed away in my sleep without waking up.
I did not wake up. Who would have been there to use an external defibrillator on me to save me? No one.
Product Review: DON'T compare to long term health
Summary: 5 Stars
A reviewer wrote that $1500 can buy a treadmill or patches to quit smoking, and advised that your money's better spent preventing cardiac arrest. This is dangerous, ignorant advice. That type of advice is better served in the junk food/health section. This is an EMERGENCY device. It's like a holistic doctor going into an emergency room trauma center and starting to give advice that the hundred thousands of dollars of equipment would be better spent on vitamins and a gym!!
Product Review: Tell everybody that it is available for unrestricted sale!!
Summary: 5 Stars
As a medical doctor who has participated in Resuscitation Committees in Colombia, I have known this excellent device for at least 5-6 years and can tell you I am delighted to know it is available without restriction. My feeling is that for small medical offices and centers in third world countries like mine this is a MUST. The cost of full-featured defibrillators puts them out of reach, whereas this device will save lifes, be stupidly simple to use and cost a fraction of them.
In fact even any place where there are groups of people meeting, large offices and the like, should have one. (We are still far from expecting regular homes to own one). I hope Philips pushes marketing Heartstart in countries like mine, I foresee a near future where non-defibrillated cardiac arrests should be a thing of the past.
Product Review: $1500 buys a lot of other lifesavers too...
Summary: 4 Stars
There is no question that AEDs work great and save lives. If you have the means, I highly suggest picking one up.
Something to consider though, is that $1500 would buy you a pretty nice treadmill, a lot of months at a health club, or many boxes of nicotine patches to quit smoking. You will be better served in the long run if you invest your time in PREVENTING cardiac arrest in the first place by cutting your risk factors.. exercise and smoking are two of the biggest.
For those with confirmed history of cardiac problems, this may be a good purchase. Other people may want to consider some of these other suggestions. Don't take my word though, talk to your own physician before you make an investment like this.