health information
Why do they use a defibrillator on flatlining patients on TV?
Question : Why do they use a defibrillator on flatlining patients on TV?
It is my understanding a defibrillator only works on a fibrillating heart. Wouldn’t this be pointless in real life?
defibrillator
Best answer:
Answer by jennifer w
yes it would be pointless in real life….that is why it is only TV! meds are needed first to get a rhythym then it can be determined if it is shockable or not………….
I don’t know what TV show you were watching. The ones that I’ve seen (and I admit that I don’t watch many), when the monitor goes flat-line, they pull the sheets up and cover the body. And so you’re absolutely right. Lack of ANY electrical activity menas that the heart has died. Nothing more can be done. But, when I first started out, the machines weren’t as good as they are now. So, just on the off chance that there was still some electrical activity that wasn’t being picked up by the ECG, we would crank the defibrillator all the way up and give one last try – just in case there was something left to save. So you may have been watching and older TV program. Or, the physician advisor may have been an older or retired physician who is out-of-date. Or, they may have had no physician advisor.
Finally, remember that TV is about drama. Truth has little to do with drama and so is the first thing that is sacrificed when they write the story line. And that’s why I don’t watch medical dramas on TV!