AED

Abbreviation Safety and Compliance

Automated external defibrillator: portable unit that checks the heart rhythm through chest pads and tells the rescuer when to deliver a shock. Use it as soon as available.

Sources

• Healthcare Provider CPR Step-by-Step Guide (2025 AHA Guidelines): adult, child and infant CPR, AED, choking · UC Davis Health, Center for Professional Practice of Nursing
• How to Use an AED: AED Steps · American Red Cross
• Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) · U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Related terms

• shockDangerously low blood flow to the organs. Call for help; if no injury prevents it, lay the person flat with…
• AIDSAcquired immunodeficiency syndrome: late-stage HIV disease, when the immune system is badly weakened. HIV…
• CAPCollege of American Pathologists: a CMS-approved accreditor whose Laboratory Accreditation Program sends…
• ccCubic centimeter. Error-prone (ISMP): it can be misread as u (units). Write mL for blood and specimen volumes.
• CDCCenters for Disease Control and Prevention: the federal public health agency whose guidelines cover…
• CLIAClinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments: federal law covering any site that tests human specimens. A site…
• CLSIClinical and Laboratory Standards Institute: a nonprofit that writes consensus lab standards, such as GP41…
• CPRCardiopulmonary resuscitation: emergency care for cardiac arrest. Push hard and fast in the center of the…
• CVACerebrovascular accident: the medical name for a stroke.

Study Safety and Compliance

• Free Safety and Compliance practice questions
• All Safety and Compliance terms
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• Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions
• Hand Hygiene at the Draw Station