Although Schwagten would not advise his patients to bring a defibrillator into their home. “I have never prescribed it, no. If we think that people have an increased risk of sudden death, we will implant these types of devices in a much smaller form. A kind of pacemaker, but just a little bigger.”
He also insists that a defibrillator is not a panacea. “Even when that life-threatening arrhythmia has been repaired, it is not certain that someone will breathe again.” A heart massage or artificial respiration can make the difference afterwards, he concludes. “It should be a wake-up call for people to take more first aid courses and learn how to resuscitate. This way, the prognosis of the patient is much better.”
