Firemen and airport police have been trained and certified in proper use of the defibrillators. Defibrillators are used to provide a shock to the chest, stimulating a heart in ventricular fibrillation into resuming a normal rhythm. Ideally, the shock to the chest should be given within three minutes of the victim s collapse.
Defibrillation is the only effective treatment of ventricular fibrillation.
A rule adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration that took effect in September gave airlines three years to train flight attendants and put defibrillators on all planes that can carry at least 30 passengers and one attendant. American Airlines has defibrillators on all its flights, and most other airlines in the nation have begun including them, as have some foreign airlines. Lay people can be taught to use them in five or six hours. The machines have recorded voices that talk users through the steps of defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Portable defibrillators will not deliver a shock for any condition other than ventricular fibrillation, because shocking a healthy person or someone with another type of heart problem could be dangerous or even fatal.