Monitoring and Defibrillation in a Session

Patient monitoring and rapid recording of all key data and parameters, together with their transfer, are basic principles in emergency medical services. Fast analysis and documentation are becoming ever more important. If the patient needs resuscitating, defibrillation makes an essential contribution to saving human lives in life-threatening situations. At critical moments, when the heart develops potentially fatal arrhythmias, use of a defibrillator can mean the difference between life and death.

Find out all you need to know about monitoring patients and defibrillation. Learn how this lifesaving technology is used in the emergency medical services. From the operating principles of a defibrillator to the latest developments, we give you a comprehensive overview of monitoring and defibrillation in the emergency medical services.

Elderly man receives care from two rescuers

Monitoring & Defibrillation

Defibrillation in Emergency Medical Services

Defibrillation is one of the most important emergency medicine techniques in the case of life-threatening arrhythmias such as ventricular fibrillation. A cardiac arrest calls for immediate, appropriate intervention.

Monitoring & Defibrillation

ECGs in Emergency Medical Services

ECGs are not only used in outpatient and in-hospital diagnostics on a daily basis. In emergency medicine, an ECG can help ensure that serious heart disease is detected promptly. That can save lives.

Rescue worker measures oxygen saturation of patient

Monitoring & Defibrillation

Blood Oxygen Saturation

Oxygen saturation is a key parameter for EMS providers to correctly assess the patient’s condition. Inhaled oxygen is transported to the body’s cells via the blood. Too low an oxygen saturation in the blood can have life-threatening consequences in extreme cases. Measuring oxygen saturation provides an indication of how well the blood is being supplied with vital oxygen.

Monitoring & Defibrillation

Cardioversion as Emergency Therapy

With life-threatening arrhythmias such as ventricular fibrillation, resuscitation must be initiated immediately. Yet even arrhythmias with less serious consequences call for proper treatment – with the emergency medical services, the military medical corps, and in hospital. Cardioversion is used with various indications to bring the heart back to a sinus rhythm.

Monitoring & Defibrillation

Patient Monitoring: Efficient Monitoring for Optimal Care

EMS field providers and emergency physicians must record and monitor vital signs at all times in order to make tentative diagnoses and act accordingly. Patient monitoring also plays a key role in patient transport, and in the subsequent handover to hospital for treatment.