What is the immediate treatment for ventricular fibrillation?

Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is a life-threatening arrhythmia that results in the heart's inability to pump blood effectively, leading to cardiac arrest. The immediate treatment for VF is defibrillation, which is a process that interrupts the chaotic electric activity in the heart to re-establish a normal rhythm.

Immediate defibrillation is essential to increase the chances of survival and successful resuscitation. While cardioversion refers to the use of electrical shocks to restore a normal heart rhythm, it is typically used in cases of stable tachyarrhythmias rather than for VF, which is an unstable condition requiring immediate action.

In a clinical scenario, the emphasis is placed on rapid intervention after confirming the presence of VF. With a high-quality defibrillation protocol in place, health care providers should use an automated external defibrillator (AED) or manual defibrillator to deliver the electrical shock promptly. The effectiveness of this intervention is time-sensitive, with chances of successful resuscitation decreasing with each passing minute without defibrillation.

Although CPR initiation, medication administration, and advanced airway management are important components of the overall management of a patient in cardiac arrest, they are not the first priority when addressing VF. Immediate defibrillation takes precedence