Several defibrillators, defibrillator architectures, defibrillator components and methods of operating defibrillators are described. In one aspect, a defibrillator (as for example an automated external defibrillator) that can be powered by a mobile communication device such as a smart cellular phone or a tablet computer is described. Utilizing a phone (or other mobile communication device) as the power supply for an external defibrillator allows the external defibrillator to be smaller and, in some circumstance, removes the need for a battery that stores sufficient energy for shock delivery—which would need to be checked and/or replaced on a regular basis. Additionally, when desired, certain control functionality, computation, data processing, and user instructions can be handled/presented by the mobile communications device thereby further simplifying the defibrillator design and improving the user experience. This architecture takes advantage of the nearly ubiquitous availability of smart phones, tablet computers and other mobile communication devices.
