So I hit the shock button. It was a really amazing feeling, to have pulled someone back like that. The machines are automated, designed so that anyone can use them. Plus they're not just showing up in airports. Anaheim, Calif., just finished installing the devices in libraries and all other city buildings.
Vague instructions are a problem on one machine.
And people do worry about shocking a victim the wrong way. But misuse is really impossible. Defibrillators save a heart that, because of a heart attack or other damage, has stopped beating in a regular rhythm. This fibrillation is part of sudden cardiac arrest, and it robs victims of pulse, consciousness, and breathing. For every minute in arrest, the chance of survival drops another 10 percent.