How does debfibrillation work on a patient in a Houston, TX hospital? | DENENA | POINTS

Houston, TX medical device attorneys respond: defibrillators come in various types that medical practioners use for different purposes.

Manual defibrillators (the type you usually see used for dramatic effect in TV shows) and that trained doctors and nurses can use in Houston, TX hospitals.
Semi-automated and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that require little or no prior training to use. You might sometimes find these in public gathering places like government buildings and office towers as well as in Houston, TX hospitals.
Implantable defibrillators designed for use on the specific individual that receives the implant.
Fibrillation is the term applied to the heart’s “flutter” that pumps blood throughout the body. Contrary to popular belief, defibrillators aren’t for use when a heart has truly stopped. Defibrillators aren’t the answer for Houston, TX hospital patients who have flat-lined.

An asystole, or “flat line” condition is irreversible by defibrillation. Defibrillation really only works on the cardiac arrest conditions called ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia.

Houston, TX medical device attorneys reiterate that defibrillators’ shock pulses can’t restart a heart that has truly stopped, or flat-lined. Defibrillation can only reset the heart’s existing beat to a normal rhythm. Sometimes that existing beat might be so weak that it appears that the heart has stopped when it’s still actually trying to function. In fact, defibrillators actually stop the heart’s fibrillation, or flutter, momentarily in order to provide an electrical shock that will reset it to a normal rhythm.

Your heart’s beat is controlled by cells that we call pacemakers. These cells send electrical pulses into your heart’s muscles to tell the heart when to beat and how fast to beat in order to pump blood throughout your body.

Houston, TX medical device attorneys know of many things that can throw the body’s natural electrical signals off and cause the pacemaker cells to malfunction. Diseases like lupus might interfere with a heart’s normal functioning. Cardiosclerosis and arteriosclerosis can interfere. Injuries and debilitating weakness can overtax the heart’s natural regulatory mechanisms.

Defibrillation stops the heart for a moment to allow the body’s own pacemaker cells to relax. The defibrillator then provides a shock to jolt them back into action on a normal rhythm so that your heart can pump the required blood to your body.