An automatic external defibrillator including: a sensor for detecting when a
rescuer
is delivering a CPR chest compression to the patient; electrodes for application
to the thorax of the patient for delivering a defibrillation shock to the patient
and for detecting an ECG signal; defibrillation circuitry for delivering a defibrillation
shock to the electrodes; and a processor and associated memory for executing software
that controls operation of the defibrillator. The software provides: ECG analysis
for analyzing the ECG signal to determine if the cardiac rhythm is shockable; CPR
detection for analyzing the output of the sensor to determine when a CPR chest
compression has been delivered, and integration of the ECG analysis and CPR detection
so that the determination of whether the cardiac rhythm is shockable is based only
on time periods of the ECG signal during which there has not been a CPR chest compression delivered.