Automated External. Defibrillators. (AED s)

Transcription

1 Things you should know about: Automated External Defibrillators (AED s) MJ Training Tel/Fax: Mob: Website: Facebook: 1

2 What Is An AED? An AED (Automated External Defibrillator). In other words it is Automated so even a person with no experience can use an AED. External, the pads go on the outside of the body, normally one pad on the chest under the right collar bone and the other on the left side of the casualty above the hip and below the arm pit. Defibrillator, it stops the heart!! YES STOPS the heart, fibrillating, (the heart being at this stage in an abnormal rhythm/electrical chaos) and not pumping blood around the body, therefore by sending an electric shock through the heart, it gives the heart a chance to start in a normal rhythm again, usually with the aid of immediate CPR after the shock. Our First Aider is Trained in CPR CPR on its own does not work!! Roughly 6% of Cardiac Arrest Victims will survive with only CPR. The survival rate increases to 70 80% with the use of an AED within 3 mins of the heart stopping. For every minute the AED is delayed, the casualty looses between 10 14% chance of survival. How long does it take an ambulance to get to you? How much do you value your staff, customers, friends and or family? Can We Afford One? On average a good AED will cost around 800 to 1000, plus VAT and depending on where you buy it from. You may also have the cost of other accessories on top of the cost of the machine. Always check! In our office we have the Heartsine 500P. It comes complete with a wall bracket, carrying bag, accessory pack and a set of adult and paediatric pads. When we bought it in 2013 the whole pack cost us 1,320 including VAT. Cheaper, reconditioned AEDs are readily available. These machines may never have been used, but the previous owner has decided to up graded to a newer model. Prices can start from around 650 plus VAT. Note: We do not recommend buying them from Ebay etc, always use a reputable dealer 2

3 Extras: You will need an accessory pack and you may need extra pads. If you are putting it outside your premises you will need a locked and heated cupboard. That can cost anything from plus VAT plus a possible installation cost as well. Most of these machines have an average of 7-10 year warranty with them. They do not need servicing and the only thing you will normally need to purchase, is maybe one replacement battery and pads in its lifetime. (Depending on the model purchased the prices of pads vary considerably.) How Much Is A Life Worth To You? Still thinking it s too expensive? Check out these statistics.. 103,000 people a year in the UK will have a heart attack and 1 in 3 will die before they reach hospital. (Statistics from BHF) 82% of Cardiac Arrests are caused by heart attacks. Approximately 400 people a year in the UK, will die in fires. We have a legal requirement to have fire extinguishers!! OK, So Which One Do I Buy? There are lots of models on the market they are all made to look appealing, to encourage people to use them. They come in varying sizes, so some may be more convenient especially if they need to be portable. However the smaller the model the more expensive it usually is. Generally an AED is the size of a small first aid kit. IMPORTANT - Check out the different features of each machine How often will you use the AED? Will it be used by untrained staff or customers Will it be used by trained staff who rarely practice using the machine? (Which in our experience counts for the majority of users). If you have answered Yes to one or more of these questions then you are better off purchasing a machine that gives you as much help with the Resuscitation Procedure as possible. All manufacturers and sellers of AED s will claim their particular machine and the way it works, is better than other AEDs on the market. However, there is no evidence currently available, to confirm that one machine is better than another. 3

4 S Note: A manufacture may claim their AED is recommended by particular organisations, but this does not always mean it is fit for purpose, for example a marine approved unit has to be actually waterproof!! So check, check and check again to make sure you choose the correct AED for your purpose. Other Important Features You Need to Consider: Warranty, batteries, pads and memory Every AED model varies when it comes to life span, their warranty, batteries, pad life and memory. All these points need to be considered when purchasing a machine. AEDs have a memory of varying lengths that can be downloaded onto a computer after its use. This can give valuable information to be used by the hospital staff caring for the casualty, plus the Resuscitation Council for statistics, as well as the first aider. Note: Some Suppliers/AED manufactures even offer free pads if the AED is used successfully in a resuscitation. Reliability All AED s check themselves automatically, daily, weekly, monthly and normally you can be confident that they will work when required. If you are unlucky to have a fault occur this should be obvious by a daily check by yourselves. All AED s have a flashing indicator light and audible alarms, for failures and battery life. Depending on who you purchased your machine from, you may well also get a free loan service of another AED in the exceptional circumstances that your machine fails. It is worth asking about this service before you purchase an AED. Semi Automatic You basically have two buttons, an on / off button and a shock button. Occasionally there may be other buttons that relate to the set up of the machine. When the machine decides the casualty can be shocked, it will say, shock advised, charging, press flashing shock button now. You need to physically press the button to deliver the shock. The advantage to this model is it gives the user the ability to ensure no one is touching the casualty before pressing the button. Therefore avoiding shocking a bystander/or the first aider. Fully Automatic This has just the on / off button. No shock button. When the machine decides the casualty can be shocked, it will say, shock advised, shocking in 3, 2, 1, and it will deliver the shock for you. The disadvantage of this is it does not always giving the untrained or infrequent user, an opportunity to ensure no one is touching the casualty. 4

5 IP Rating Every machine has an IP rating. This is a two figure number the first number is how well it is protected from solid particles getting into the unit, the second is how water proof it is. Solid Particle Protection goes from 0 6 Water Proofing goes from 0 7 No protection Dust Tight No protection Immersion up to I meter for 30 minutes The Powerheart G3 (used by the ambulance service) has an IP24, is only protected from objects the size of fingers and splashing of water at 10 litres a min, test duration 5 minutes. The top of the range Defibtech Lifeline with screen, (apparently approved by the marine association) with an IP55, is protected from ingress of dust sufficiently, but not completely dustproof. The 5 water rating protects it from Water Jets, with a nozzle of 6.3mm, at 12.5 litres a minute, test duration 15 minutes. The Heartsine 500P, with CPR Advisor, has an IP56, so as per the Lifeline above, the same dust rating. However the water protection is a 6. A 6 gives it protection from Powerful Water Jets, from a nozzle of 12.5mm, at 100 litres per minute, test duration 3 minutes. What machine would you want to use on the deck of your boat? Are you going to be using it outside on a construction site, or on a football pitch? Shock Levels Some machines have a fixed shock, typically 150 joules, while other have an escalating energy, typically starting at a 100 joules and going up to over 300+ joules depending on the model. If you have a machine with /or can accept, paediatric pads, (paediatric pads are for children from the age of 1 year to generally 8 10 years old.) These pads reduce the shock delivered to the child automatically. NOTE: If you have a machine which gives you feedback on how effective your CPR is, generally this feature does not work with the paediatric pads. (You should be careful if using adult pads on an older child, because you do not have paediatric pads available, it may not disarm the CPR feedback so you should ignore it.) Voice and Visual Prompts - Some machines will start with a voice prompt place pads, whereas another may start with open airway, check breathing, call , they vary considerably. You can get machines with a series of visual pictorial prompts on your primary survey, to ones with a video to watch, on how to do CPR. Obviously for an infrequent user one with more verbal and visual prompts it better. Watching a video screen however we believe could be distracting. 5

6 CPR Feedback - Some machines have CPR feedback as well. This is usually a verbal prompt to tell you to push harder and faster, or to slow down, good compressions. The prompts vary from one machine to another, with pictorial prompts available on some models. The Zoll for instance, has completely different pads to other models. The two pads are joined in the middle providing a cross in the centre of the breast bone for you to place your hands when doing compressions. The metronome keeps you doing your compressions at per minute and the machine reads the pressure you are putting on the pads cross, to give you feedback as to whether you need to push harder. The Heartsine 500P, is the only machine we are aware of on the market at present, that actually reads the blood flow through the heart, via the separate pads. (HeartSines SCOPE T Biphasic technology uses Impedance Cardiogram (ICG) to measure Impedance changes in blood volume in the chest cavity, which determines effective CPR.) This can then give you feed back including, go faster, slower, harder, good compressions, along with a visual coloured light bar to, that you are required to get the lights to the end of the bar and all lit up green not amber. This machine can also make allowances for the size of your casualty, so even if they are not in a shockable rhythm you can be sure you re giving effective compressions. ECG Display - There are some machines available with ECG displays, this is of no use to the average first aider and only really for the medically trained professionals. These are also expensive and so do not be led towards this type of machine, unless your a paramedic, looking to start up a private ambulance service. Is It Important To Train My Staff? YES! If you acting responsibly and have decided to have an AED on your premises then it makes sense and is good practice to train your staff in its use. If however you are purchasing an AED that can be accessed by the community and have registered with the Ambulance Service, you may not need to train your staff, BUT it will require a cabinet!! Training need not impact on productivity some courses on offer can be as little as half a day. There is a Level 2 Award in CPR and AED; this is a 6 hour course. However we, at MJ Training, train all our first aid candidates in the basic use of an AED as standard, on our first aid courses. This means very little further training is required, especially if they have undertaken the three day First Aid at Work Course. However to gain an actual certificate, extra hours and a small extra cost may be required. 6

7 AT MJ Training We are passionate about AED s being in the work place and community, because they save lives. We do not sell AED s, because we do not want you to think we are advertising them to make money ourselves. We get very annoyed when we go to a client and they have been sold an inappropriate AED, or one without the necessary equipment. Which is why we are happy to give free impartial advice to all with regards to purchasing a machine and what machine may well suit you and your circumstances best. For more information and a no obligation chat do not hesitate to get in touch. You can contact us via: Tel/Fax: Mob: info@mjtrainme.co.uk Website: Facebook: 7