Fully automatic vs semi-automatic

There are two types of defibrillators that can be operated by untrained people, the fully automatic AED and the semi-automatic AED. After analyzing the heart rhythm, a fully automatic AED gives a warning that a shock is about to be administered, after which the AED starts counting down until the shock. No fully automatic machine can analyze and count down within 10 seconds. The patient must not be touched during analysis and countdown. That is why no other AED complies with an important guideline of the NRR (Dutch Resuscitation Council), namely the recommendation never to interrupt chest compressions for longer than 10 seconds. Philips semi-automatic AEDs analyze within 8.2 seconds and therefore meet the important “10 seconds” recommendation of the NRR.