A 65-year-old man collapsed after he stepped out of his car after a traffic accident. Fortunately, two police officers on a routine patrol in the area were quickly on the scene and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A passerby noticed that the patient was in distress and that an automatic defi-brillator was nearby. He attached the electrodes of the defibrillator to the chest of the patient in accordance with instructions on the defibrillator and terminated the ventricular fibrillation (200 joule, biphasic). Emergency cardiac catheterizati-on revealed a subtotal stenosis proximally in the right coronary artery, which was successfully treated with a stent. Based on the ideal basic life support, the immediate care by emergency mobile system and coronary angioplasty with successful revascularisation the patient could be released without any neurological deficit. This case illustrates that laypersons can use automatic external defibrillator in case of cardiac resuscitation sufficiently and quickly.
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