Abstract: The invention is directed to techniques for configuration of a medical device, such as a defibrillator or patient monitor. The configuration is menu-driven. The medical device may present a menu of patient conditions to an operator. When the operator selects a patient condition from the menu, the device selects a configuration parameter and self-configures with the configuration parameter. The menu-driven techniques may further allow an operator to change the configuration of the device to configure the device more specifically to the condition of the patient. The menu-driven techniques may also allow the device to self-configure with a default configuration parameter in the event the operator fails to make a menu selection.