A Guide to Defibrillators
A Guide to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)
What is an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED)?
An AED is a portable device that analyses the heart’s rhythm and prompts the user to deliver a defibrillation shock if required. Once turned on, the AED guides the user through each step of the rescue process by providing voice prompts.
An AED may not be something that your company has ever considered before. It is therefore, recommended by Martek Marine that, when purchasing an AED, you should look for the following:
Ease of use
During an SCA incident the atmosphere will be chaotic and people in a state of panic. A good AED unit provides clear prompts for the user. This can include voice instructions and clear visual prompts.
Batteries
Some AED units come with expensive batteries however, some come with lithium batteries.
Depending on how long you wish the unit to stay live for may affect your choice. For example, the more expensive batteries may give you 5 years life where as consumer may only be 1-2 years.
Usable Adhesive Pads
Some electrode pads on AED’s have extremely sticky pads that can easily stick to the user's bare skin or clothing accidentally. These should not be over sticky, as precious seconds can be lost while removing and placing such pads correctly.
Firm Electrode Connections
Check the electrode connections to the main AED unit and make sure the connectors cannot be pulled out easily. Given the commotion when using an AED, you don't want a unit where the electrode cable(s) can be easily unplugged.
Durability
Check to see that the unit has a water-resistant seal(s). An AED will undoubtedly be used in the rain and placed on a wet floor for example. Make sure there is a water-rated seal especially around the battery compartment. Also, another benefit is to have a non-slip handle for use with wet hands and gloves if necessary.
Upgradeable Operating System
Better AED units can have their internal operating system easily updated via download, while some models require that you send the unit back to the manufacturer for upgrades.
Who can use an AED?
Any one can use an AED, with no training or medical background required. Having an AED available in the office, home and public places dramatically reduces the time from collapse to defibrillation and has shown to greatly improve survival rates.
LIFEFORCE® Marine AED
Martek Marine offers the LIFEFORCE® Marine AED to treat crew members from SCA. The LIFEFORCE® unit is the world’s fist and ONLY Type Approved AED for use onboard ships. LIFEFORCE® has the following features:
• Durable - tested in hostile marine environment
• Simple to use - only two buttons to press
• Low maintenance - 5 year battery
• Portable and light - built in rubberised handle, weighs just 1.9kg
• Training available - on-site certified or with adaptable training unit
True Story – Sir Ranulph Fiennes brush with death
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is no stranger to entering the unknown, and is described by the Guinness Book of Records as the greatest living explorer. He was one of the first people in the world to walk across the Antarctic unaided in some of the most unforgiving surroundings.
To achieve such an amazing goal takes the ultimate level of fitness, stamina and determination, and when you think of someone like Ranulph; you think of a healthy person ready to take the world on. However, on June 7th 2003, Ranulph‘s life took somewhat of a unexpected course into unknown territory.
Ranulph was boarding a flight to Edinburgh at Bristol Airport when he suffered a massive heart attack, just before the plane took off.
Lucky for Ranulph the emergency fire services who attended to this incident had an AED, which revived him from his brush with death. Ranulph went on from here to have double heart-bypass surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary. Following this heart stopping incident, Ranulph commented on his lucky escape of death by saying:
"I was extremely lucky that a mobile defibrillating unit and the expert assistance of the Blue Watch of the Bristol Airport Fire Station were immediately on the scene."
Ranulph further went on to describe how unexpected the attack was:
“I had absolutely no indication anything was wrong until I woke up in a hospital bed and was told
I'd suffered a heart attack. Before that there had been no obvious signs - I hadn't experienced any pain and was living my life as normal.”
Ranulph was one of the lucky ones to come out of a SCA alive, as one of his fellow passengers was a nurse and they managed to get a defibrillator to him within 4 minutes. It would have been a very different picture now had the AED not been available.
Ranulph has since gone on to conquer many more challenges, even running seven marathons on seven continents in seven days for the British Heart Foundation just 4 months after his operation. Ranulph has pledged to take a defibrillator with him on all his future expeditions as standard, and believes that such a small piece of kit should be available in all public places.
After all, he is only alive now because an AED was at the airport!
About Martek
Martek Marine Ltd are world leaders in providing safety and environmental monitoring equipment to ships globally. We are the only AED supplier to be awarded two highly prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in the ‘Innovation’ and ‘International Trade’ categories.
Martek Marine Ltd are committed to offering lifesaving equipment that is reliable, of high quality and proven performance, and to support this, the LIFEFORCE® AED is the only Type Approved AED available in the marine industry.
