Published on 20/02/2021
Posted on 20th February 2021
Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) can happen suddenly and without warning.
It occurs when the heart stops beating normally due to chaotic, irregular passage of cardiac impulses. This prevents oxygenated blood from pumping around the body. Unless these impulses are corrected within minutes, the victim will die due to the lack of oxygen throughout their body.
The only proven method to treat SCA is rapid defibrillation. If a member of your crew was to go into cardiac arrest whilst out at sea, their chance of survival would be almost 0% unless you have an AED on-board.
So, let’s look into what AEDs are and what to consider when buying one for your vessel.
An AED is a portable device that automatically checks the heart’s rhythm and, if needed, delivers a controlled electric shock to the chest. If successful, this will restore the heart’s natural rhythm and allow blood to pump normally once again.
AED’s are vital in cardiac arrest events and, if used within the first 3 minutes, the chance of survival increases from 7% to a staggering 74%.
When choosing the best AED to suit your vessel, it’s vital that you consider the following:
Reliability
There is no use buying an AED which isn’t reliable enough to provide you with lifesaving treatment whenever it’s needed. Find out what kind of testing an AED has been through to prove its reliability.
Ingress protection rating (IP)
IP is how well an AED protects itself from dust and water ingress. The higher the IP, the better protected a device is. Every shipowner and operator will want a pretty high IP, particularly because AEDs tend to be used infrequently and can easily gather dust.
Ease of Use
Trying to deal with an SCA at sea is incredibly stressful, and it’s very easy to get flustered when rushing to save a life. An AED must be easy to use and intuitive to help rescuers deal with the situation as calmly as possible and deliver the treatment successfully.
Be sure to ask plenty of questions about the usability of any AED you consider, and check out video demonstrations where possible so you can see exactly how easy or difficult is it to use.
Warranty
Purchasing an AED can be a serious investment, so you’ll want peace of mind that your device is protected under a warranty in case anything goes wrong. Warranties for portable defibrillators tend to provide cover from anywhere between 2 and 8 years, and the longer the warranty, the more reliable the AED is likely to be.
Battery Life
The main battery on an AED is what provides that all-important, heart starting shock to save a life. Look out for the number of years and shocks that a battery will provide so that you can be prepared for the frequency of battery replacements.
Note also that with each shock a battery provides, its life timescale will reduce. Even if an AED is never used to deliver shocks, its battery power will still diminish over time and a replacement will still be needed.
Maintenance and servicing costs
For some ship owners and operators, annual service checks are compulsory in accordance with their own internal policies. If this is the case, be sure to purchase your AED from a company that can provide this service.
The cost of spares
There’s more than just the initial cost of an AED to think about, so be sure to consider the running costs involved, too. There are three key aspects to consider:
It’s important to be vigilant about your AED maintenance because failure to replace parts when necessary could make the device unfit to save a life.
Martek Marine is the exclusive UK distributor of Defibtech products, which is one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of AEDs.
The Lifeforce AED is specifically designed for the marine environment.
The benefits of Lifeforce include…
AEDs need a few added parts in order to deliver rapid, effective treatment. Some are essentials and some are optional extras – let’s take a look at what you should be buying alongside your AED.
Pads
Defibrillator pads, also commonly known as electrode pads, connect to the AED via cables and adhere to the chest of the patient. This is what completes the circuit to allow the shock of electricity to be delivered.
Pads are only single-use and should be replaced after each use. For this reason, it’s always useful to have at least one spare set to hand so that your AED will be prepared for another use right away. In fact, it’s handy to have a few spare pads in your first aid inventory just in case a set becomes compromised, perhaps as a result of being applied incorrectly to the patient.
Storage
AEDs are expensive pieces of kit, and although the Lifeforce Marine AED is incredibly hardy, it’s a good idea to protect them even further.
Wall-mounted storage solutions are handy for scenarios where you want the AED to be identified quickly and easily. These can be as simple as wall-mounted brackets, or for extra protection, you can opt for wall mounted cabinets.
Signage
Many AED machines are manufactured in bright, eye-catching colours so that they can quickly be spotted in emergencies.
However, to help people to locate defibrillators, you may want to add extra signage around your vessel to direct users to the nearest one.
Remember that in emergency situations, people can quickly panic and don’t always think as clearly as they might under normal circumstances. The easier it is for people to navigate to your AED, the more likely it is that the victim of cardiac arrest will survive.
Choosing the right AED for your vessel can seem like a difficult and stressful task, especially given how important they are in treating SCA. For more information on what to consider when purchasing a defibrillator, download our free AED buyers guide here.
Alternatively, you can contact a member of our team who will be happy to help.