General FAQ

What is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) means that the heart unexpectedly & abruptly quits beating ， which inhibits blood from circulating to the brain.

This is usually caused by an abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF).

What is VF?

VF is an abnormal heart rhythm often seen in SCA.

This rhythm is caused by an abnormal and very fast electrical activity in the heart. VF is chaotic and unorganized; the heart just quivers and cannot effectively pump blood. VF will be short lived and deteriorate to asystole (a flat line) if not treated promptly.

What the difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack?

It is common for cardiac arrest to be mistakenly called a heart attack, but the truth is there is a big difference between the two.

A heart attack is when one of the heart’s arteries is suddenly blocked and stops the proper flow of blood to the heart. Often the blockage is from a buildup of plaque that ruptures and in turn inhibits a portion of the heart from getting its vital supply of blood. This can lead to death if the blood supply is cut off for too long because the hearts muscle cells don’t receive the necessary oxygen. Some warning signs for a heart attack include chest and arm pain, weakness, dizziness, and nausea.

On the other hand, cardiac arrest is when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions and stops the flow of blood to the brain. Unlike a heart attack, cardiac arrest usually happens without warning signs. Also, when someone has a heart attack they are usually conscious through it while during a cardiac arrest the brain loses oxygen and the victim will lose consciousness.

A heart attack is treated by returning the blood flow back to normal through treatments like medication, stenting, or surgery. Cardiac arrest is treated through defibrillation which restarts the heart to return it back to its normal rhythm. Although suffering from cardiac arrest does not mean you are more at risk for a heart attack, someone that has a heart attack can be more at risk of cardiac arrest.

What is an AED?

An AED is Automated External Defibrillator, automatically analyze and detect cardiac arrhythmias of Sudden Cardiac Arrest patients through electrodes, advises the rescuer of the need for defibrillation and delivers a shock if needed.

AEDs are used in the event of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), which is a condition in which the heart suddenly stops pumping blood and quivers erratically; this typically happens without any warning signs. The chances of surviving cardiac arrest decrease by 7-10% with every minute that passes after a person's heart stops beating. About 360,000 cases occur yearly, and a person currently has about a 5% chance of surviving an incident of cardiac arrest.

Why do I need an AED?

The American Heart Association has documented a simple but powerful 4 step “Chain of Survival”. There is a 5 minutes window from collapse to shock that must occur in order for the patient to survive the event.

The “Chain of Survival” steps must all occur within 5 minutes:

1. Early Access to get help – call 911

2. Early CPR to buy time

3. Early Defibrillation to restart the heart

4. Early ACLS (advanced care life support) to stabilize

The only successful treatment of SCA is immediate CPR with an automatic AED within the first 5 minutes of collapse.

What if I forget the steps for using an AED?

Steps for shocking an SCA patient are simple and straightforward.

Mindray Beneheart C1A/C1A Fully automatic and Beneheart C2/C2 Fully automatic external defibrillator provide visual and audio prompts to guide you through the entire resuscitation process. If users forget the steps when using an AED, Mindray Beneheart C series defibrillator will guide you through the process via different encouraging prompts.

Should I perform CPR first or apply electrode pads from the AED?

Do CPR only until the AED arrives. Apply the electrode pads to the patient's bare chest and follow the voice prompts and messages of the AED.  Mindray Beneheart C1A/C1A Fully automatic and Beneheart C2/C2 Fully automatic external defibrillator provide visual and audio prompts to guide you through the entire resuscitation process

If defibrillation is so important, why should I do CPR?

CPR provides circulation of oxygen rich blood to the patients’ heart and brain. This circulation delays both brain death and the death of heart muscle. CPR also makes the heart more likely to respond to defibrillation. Mindray Beneheart C1A/C1A Fully automatic and Beneheart C2/C2 Fully automatic external defibrillator provide CPR metronome to guide users when doing CPR.

Do I need to remove the electrode pads before performing CPR?

No.

The electrode pads remain on throughout the resuscitation and until the victim is transferred to advanced care providers such as the paramedics. If the electrode pads are in their correct locations on the victim's chest, they will not interfere with proper hand placement or compressions.

Can an AED be used on children?

Sudden Cardiac Arrest in youth is not a rare occurrence.  SCA is the leading cause of death on school property, which includes not only children, but also teachers, administrators, parents and visitors.

Use pediatric AED pads and/or equipment, if available. All the AED products of Mindray Beneheart C seires have adult/pediatric switch key for users to select corresponding patient category without changing pads. Which enables rescuers to save time and trouble during resuscitation process.

Product FAQ

How do I use an AED?

Mindray Beneheart C series are all very intuitive. In order to use an Mindray Beneheart C series AED, begin by simply opening the lid. From there, it's as simple as following the AED's voice and text prompts which include directions such as "Attach electrodes to patient's bare chest" and "Begin CPR." An important feature about Mindray Beneheart C series is process encouraging mechanism, which means the device will give you different prompts during the resuscitation process according to different usage reactions.

Mindray Beneheart C series AED itself will determine whether a shock is necessary, and if it is, will prompt the rescuer to push the shock button (in semi-automatic model) and give a clear warning before shocking the patient. If you are using fully automatic model, just simply stay clear and follow the prompts from AED, the device will deliver a shock accordingly.

Since these devices guide a person through the entire rescue process, they can be used by people that haven't been trained in CPR/AED usage, however, it is highly recommended that every facility have trained personnel.

What is the difference between Mindray Beneheart C series AED?

On September 2019, Mindray officially launched four model of Beneheart C series AED in Europe.

What’s the size and resolution of Mindray Beneheart C series AED?

Size (Width × depth × height) for Beneheart C series AED is 21.0 cm×28.6 cm×7.8 cm (± 2cm).

As for with screen model, the screen size is 7 inch, resolution is 800×480 pixels.

When did Beneheart C series get CE mark?

August,2019

When is Beneheart C series firstly launched, in what region?

Beneheart C series is launched firstly in Europe in September 2019.

How are the Beneheart C series data storage capability?

Waveform storage up to 5 hours of ECG waveforms.

Events up to 500 events.

Voice recording up to 1 hour.

CPR data up to 5 hours.

Self-test reports up to 1000 records.

What’s the IP rating of Mindray Beneheart C series AED and what does it mean?

The IP rating mean degree of protection against dust and water.

For Mindray Beneheart C series AED the IP rating is IP55, which means:

Degree of protection against harmful ingress of solid is IP5X.

Degree of protection against harmful ingress of water is IPX5.

Here is the reference for IP rating level:

Proof Level from Dusts (Indicated by the first X)
0: Without protection
1: Free from large solid objects
2: Free from medium-size solid objects
3: Free from tiny solid objects
4: Free from tiny solid objects whose diameters are bigger than 1mm
5: Preventing the gathering of harmful dusts and motes
6: Free from dusts and motes completely.

Proof Level from Water (Indicated by the second X)
0: Without protection
1: Free from negative influences when water drops hit the outside of the instrument.
2: Free from negative influences caused by water drops when the outside case slants to an angle of 15 degrees
3: Free from negative influences caused by water or rain from an angle of 60 degrees
4: Free from negative influences caused by liquid splashes from any directions.
5: Free from negative influences when flushed with water
6: Can be used in such circumstances as ship cabin.
7: Can be soaked deep 1m in water for a short time
8: Can be soaked in water under certain pressure for a long time.

What do I do if I have a technical fault with a Mindray AED device?

For any technical problems, please contact Mindray service team at your region, or Mindray global technical service team on 400 700 5652 / (86-755) 81888998 or service@mindray.com.