Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 52, Issue 5 , Pages 512-514, November 2008

Adverse Design of Defibrillators: Turning Off the Machine When Trying to Shock

  • Christian S. Høyer, MD

      Affiliations

    • Unit for Medical Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for correspondence: C. Christian S. Høyer, MD, Unit for Medical Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Aarhus, INCUBA Science Park, Skejby, Brendstrupgaardsvej 102, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark; 45-8620-5223
    • ,
  • Erika F. Christensen, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Anaesthesiology, Aarhus Sygehus, University Hospital of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
    • ,
  • Berit Eika, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Unit for Medical Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

Received 6 October 2007; received in revised form 8 November 2007; accepted 19 November 2007. published online 18 February 2008.

A recent publication demonstrated the possibility of erroneous operation of 2 widely used monitor-defibrillators and observed that the design of user interfaces might contribute to error during operation. During an ambulance simulation training exercise for 72 junior internal medicine physicians that called for defibrillation in the management of cardiac arrest, we observed that in 5 of 192 defibrillation attempts by the physicians, the monitor-defibrillator was inadvertently powered off. When the device is inadvertently powered off, recognition and subsequent steps to defibrillate delayed defibrillation an average of 24 seconds (range 14 to 32 seconds). Our analysis of the controls of this monitor-defibrillator found that the device could be powered off even if fully charged and ready to shock. Redesign of the equipment might prevent this inadvertent event.

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

 Supervising editor: J. Stephan Stapczynski, MD

 Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article, that might create any potential conflict of interest. The authors have stated that no such relationships exist. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement.

 Publication dates: Available online February 20, 2008.

 Reprints not available from the authors.

PII: S0196-0644(07)01805-7

doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2007.11.037

Refers to article:

  • Delayed Defibrillation Caused by Unexpected ECG Artifact , 04 April 2008

    John A. Stewart
    Annals of Emergency Medicine November 2008 (Vol. 52, Issue 5, Pages 515-518)

  • Hazards With Medical Devices: The Role of Design , 26 August 2008

    Rollin J. Fairbanks, Robert L. Wears
    Annals of Emergency Medicine November 2008 (Vol. 52, Issue 5, Pages 519-521)

Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 52, Issue 5 , Pages 512-514, November 2008

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution