Are home defibrillators worth buying?!

They will work IF the heart is in one of the patterns which would require defribillation. However, there are patterns the heart can enter which means that defribillation will not help and the individual will die anyway.

So, if anyone in your home has a heart condition and you have the money, I would buy one, definitely. In the right situation, they will work. Additionally, if the person goes into a heart attack and the unit will not defribillate the person because its the wrong type of pattern, it may help the EMT's anticipate what to expect as you would be on the phone to the ambulance while setting up the unit and getting the person any medication. While theyre on the way if the unit will not shock the person, you may well have told the EMT what they need to know to potentially save the persons life, because the unit has excluded the events which it was designed to detect, so you have already aided in diagnosis. But again, you arent a doctor, or a medial professional, so once they arrive, get out of the way.

Remember, the first aid involved in saving a life is more important than the defribillator itself. You need to know CPR, the posititons to put them in, etc. So it may be best to go on a first aid course too.

In theory they should work as well as a field defibrillator.

Defibrillators themselves work beautifully, if you understand nothing is absolute. If a loved one goes into cardiac arrest; and if, when you apply the defibrillator, the right rhythm is present, it will advise shocking. The soonest one can defibrillate, reset the heart so to speak so it can restart in a normal rhythm, the better. The chances of survival rise greatly, but bear in mind that plenty have been defibrillated immediately and still passed on.

If you have someone at home with a heart condition, it can only help to have one.