Patent ID: 7489972

Claim:
An apparatus for detecting at least one of handling of electrodes and removing of the electrodes from a package comprising: a pair of electrodes suitable for attachment to a patient and attached to an external defibrillator having a first prompt, each electrode including a conductor for sensing a patient electrical characteristic or delivering electricity for a defibrillation shock to a patient; an impedance element electrically coupled with at least one of the electrodes which varies when the associated electrode is flexed or bent; a current delivery circuit, coupled to the electrodes, which causes current to flow through the impedance element; a monitoring circuit coupled to the impedance element for monitoring a magnitude of an electrical characteristic resulting from the flow of current through the impedance element, wherein an occurrence of at least one of handling and removing of the electrodes is identified by the variation of the impedance of the impedance element and causes a second prompt to be generated.