Resumo (EN)
Objective – The ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, most victims die outside the hospital without receiving first aid. The rapid institution of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and use of automated external defibrillator (AED) by trained professionals proves to be effective in caring for victims of cardiac failure outside the hospital. In the city of Bauru, there was no study related to the use of AED, which stimulated me to do this research, aiming to make a survey of cities with the EAD, then analyzing the knowledge of professionals who are responsible for handling AED during an emergency. Methods – This is an exploratory, quantitative, carried out from August 2007 to April 2008, after approval by the Research Ethics Committee. This study consisted of two steps: – In a time of 35 consultations one was conducted by telephone with the in-charge of the sector companies to ascertain whether it had the AED. – At the 2nd step after signing the consent form it administered a multiple choice questionnaire on the professionals they were handling the AED, the institutions that approved the research. Results – The results from this research showed that these professionals had batting average of over 50% of the questionnaire. It should be noted that they presented difficulties for procedures with pediatric victims. Conclusion – In conclusion there needs to invest in continuing education to improve knowledge about the use of such equipment.