Therefore, the direct sale of AED equipment to lay individuals who are not part of a medically controlled programme is not supported. Automated external defibrillators must be totally reliable, simple to operate, of low weight, require little routine maintenance and be competitively priced. Recording facilities are considered essential to facilitate evaluation and audit. There is no consensus on standards for battery capacity at present. Equipment should be configurable to facilitate upgrading as new guidelines and treatment algorithms are developed.
Some newer devices deliver lower energy shocks using biphasic waveforms.
These are currently undergoing evaluation, and the results to date would support their use. Organisation of programmes for AED defibrillation AEDs must be deployed within a medically controlled system under the direction of a suitably experienced medical practitioner. This individual should be a consultant in Accident and Emergency Medicine, Cardiology or Anaesthesia or a doctor from another discipline who has clinical expertise in resuscitation. Training and assessment must be provided by appropriately trained individuals, for example doctors, resuscitation training officers, nursing staff, ambulance service trainers and other individuals such as first aid trainers accredited in AED training. The medical director of any AED scheme should ensure that due emphasis is placed on the other components of the 'Chain of Survival'.