Do you have to be certified to administer an aed?

do you have to be certified? i am trained..and it is very hard to mess up the use of an aed since it won't shock a person with a normal heartbeat as it must analyze for an abnormal one. i am wondering about being held liable if i use it on someone in an emergency..

You're only liable if something you do is so absolutely wrong that the person dies. Like not pushing the button to shock their heart. Don't worry the AED will not shock if it detects a heart beat. Shocking someone with an abnormal heart beat will benefit someone because they need their heart kick started back to a normal beat rhythm. You are covered by what is called the Good Samaritian clause, if you do everything that you can to save the person's life and they still die, it's unfortunate but you're not liable for their death.

You'd be more likelly to be held liable if you knew how to use one and DIDNT.

No you won't be held liable unless something went astray during the procedure.

There is no certification required to use an AED.There are many Good Samaritan laws that would probably protect you in an emergency situation.Have a great day.

as far as the state of CA goes, yes you must be at least an EMT-Basic also known as an EMT-1, unless you have some other reason such as a jeriatric care professional, but even then you need some training.