Is the Philips HeartStart Home defibrillator actually saving lives?


The New York Times has an article today about how some doctors and medical workers are starting to raise concerns about the HeartStart Home from Philips,
the first automated electronic defibrillator designed for "personal use". No one's denying that in the right hands a defibrillator can save lives, but it turns out that Philips can't cite a single example of someone being revived using a HeartStart Home, and there are concerns that someone using a home defibrillator might neglect to call 911 (which seems doubtful given how ingrained a habit that is now) or that they'll think they don't need to learn how to do CPR,
something which is more likely to restart the heart in the first few minutes after a heart attack than a defibrillator.

UPDATE: Ok, the phrasing in the last sentence was wrong, we should have said "something which, when used in conjunction with a defibrillator, is more likely to help restart the heart in the first few minutes after a heart attack than a defibrillator would be able to alone."

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