title: [Defibrillation with an automatic external defibrillator outside the hospital: a life-saving, but restricted treatment?].
abstract: Application of the automatic external defibrillator can improve the chance of success during resuscitation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, because lay persons can defibrillate awaiting the arrival of the ambulance. Defibrillation is mentioned in the Dutch Individual Health Care Professionals Act as a precluded action. Defibrillation with an automatic external defibrillator should be excluded from the list of precluded actions, because application is almost 100% safe and because the subject is not within the scope of the law which is restricted to professional activities and non-emergency actions. Defibrillation with an automatic external defibrillator is acceptable.
authors.affiliation: Academisch Medisch Centrum, afd. Cardiologie, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Koster
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Buiting
mesh_terms: D004554:Electric Countershock / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004869:Equipment Safety; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000379:methods