Time to replace the Defibrillator

A

ano

Senior Member
I know us here have had some pretty heated discussions on things like the correct wire color for smoke alarm wiring, but I have read some real interesting statistics recently:
- In the US, for every person that dies in a home fire, 96 die from sudden cardiac arrest.
- Each year, sudden cardiac arrest claims the lives of more victims that prostate cancer, breast cancer, house fires and car accidents COMBINED!!!
Read those over a bit and think about them.  The reason I bring them up is that my wife today told me its marked on our calendar to replace our defibrillator pads this month. Our defibrillator is now 15 years old and I decided it was time to replace it instead. There aren't good guidelines on their life so its probably time. Luckily its never been used.
 
I know what you are thinking, how come you haven't heard of all these sudden cardiac arrest deaths (SCA)?  You have, but people tend to call this a "massive heart attack" but heart attack and SCA are NOT the same thing. A heart attack is where you have a blockage, and you usually have pain and you go to the emergency room. SCA is where your heart stops and breathing stops. Lights out. A heart attack can lead to a SCA as well.
 
So CPR can help until the paramedics arrive but it won't start your heart, you need a defibrillator. And here are some more stats to think about. If a defibrillator is used within 1 minute of SCA, you have a 90% chance of surviving. Wait 3 or 4 minutes and survival drops to 70%. Then it drops about 10% more per minute. If you think you can wait for the EMT to arrive, well, I don't have the best news for you despite what you might see on TV.  Ask an EMT to get the real scoop.
 
So people that have SCA are old guys, right?  You may want to check out this survivor's website:  http://www.suddencardiacarrest.org/aws/SCAA/pt/sp/survivors
Some are old guys, many aren't. 
 
Defibrillators are not cheap, $1200 - $3000 but not having one can be expensive too. 
 
If you don't get one, at least take a CPR class, which typically includes AED training also.
 
I bring this up because fire alarms might not be the only emergency equipment you need, and hopefully at least convince you to at least research the topic.
 
Good advice. We took training at work for first responders, but I've never investigated having one in the home. Don't they need monthly/annual inspection/battery check/replacement as well?

What routine have you been doing with the one you've had for 15 yrs?
 
cobra said:
Good advice. We took training at work for first responders, but I've never investigated having one in the home. Don't they need monthly/annual inspection/battery check/replacement as well?

What routine have you been doing with the one you've had for 15 yrs?
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So I have the Philips one which is a popular home unit.  You have to replace the pads and battery. The pads are about $60 and last about 3 - 4 years. They have an expiration date on them. The battery is about $145 and lasts about 4 years. (Although I've heard of people replacing the lithium cells inside the "battery" much cheaper.)  So what is that, maybe $60/year maintenance on average.
 
I've also had two voluntary recalls. Nothing was wrong with it, but the American Heart Association made updates to current CPR instructions, and the firmware and labels had to be updated to match. They would send me an updated unit, then I would send them back mine. There was no charge.
 
Every few days the unit automatically runs through many self-tests, and if there is any problem like a low battery, it lets you know.
 
I should also add, the Adult pads are for people over 55 lbs.  If you have small children, you also should buy children's pads which are a bit more money than the adult pads. We don't have children so don't have them.
 
Thank you the info Ano on at home defibrillators.
 
Over the years here have seen 30 something year olds have sudden cardiac arrest.
 
My brother in law was golfing and complained one day (well Labor day weekend many years ago) of vague stomach / chest pains. 
 
He went to the hospital and the cardiologist mentioned something about him being a walking dead person and did a quadruple bypass in a matter of 1-2 days.  Cardiologist wanted to do a quintuple bypass bypass but mentioned a spaghetti mess and did not.
 
Makes me wonder if all those conductive metal stents change the response to electrical defibrillation.
 
Gives a whole new meaning to "bypass'  in a  forum with so many security system "experts". :rofl:
 
;)
 
The by-pass  and or use of stents provides collaterial blood to living cardiac muscle where old blood vessels are clogged or soon to be clogged.
 
There is a science to angioplasty and the use of various materials for stents over the years and then there is the science of a by-pass.
 
One you are trying to fix the blood vessel and the other you disable the blood vessel and by pass it.
 
The heart has it's own brain.  Once the heart muscles die they do not get replaced automagically.
 
Blood vessel plaque formation is genetic and happens or is seen sometimes with new born babies.
 
pete_c said:
Over the years here have seen 30 something year olds have sudden cardiac arrest.
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It can happen much sooner than that. This group is making sure all schools have defibrillators:
http://www.sca-aware.org/sites/default/files/u1/docs/schools/SCA-Foundation-You-Can-Save-A-Life-at-School.pdf
 
The VERY unfortunate thing about SCA is that most people don't really understand it, and much of what is betrayed on TV is FALSE. 
 
What they show on TV is the SCA occurs, someone performs CPR, the paramedics get there in 10 minutes and revive the person and all is well.  The reality is, the odds of the person living under these circumstances is under 25%. 
 
They stats are pretty grim. In America, roughly 95% of all sudden cardiac arrest victims will die, even those that are young.
 
LarrylLix said:
We were always taught the success stats were very reponse time delay dependant.
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On that note, http://www.pulsepoint.org offers a notification service/app mechanism to alert nearby citizens of an event, and AED location(s) to facilitate response before an EMT arrives. Id encourage you to watch the video. Your community may already participate, or considering it. Your SCA might not occur when you are at home near your machine?
 
All this talk of AED's reminds me of the recent articles I saw on using drones for AED delivery.  They beat the ambulance/medics by several minutes.
 
JonW said:
All this talk of AED's reminds me of the recent articles I saw on using drones for AED delivery.  They beat the ambulance/medics by several minutes.
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Yup, maybe they will deliver fire extinguishers by drone too, since its faster than the fire truck.
 
ano said:
It can happen much sooner than that. This group is making sure all schools have defibrillators:
http://www.sca-aware.org/sites/default/files/u1/docs/schools/SCA-Foundation-You-Can-Save-A-Life-at-School.pdf
 
The VERY unfortunate thing about SCA is that most people don't really understand it, and much of what is betrayed on TV is FALSE. 
 
What they show on TV is the SCA occurs, someone performs CPR, the paramedics get there in 10 minutes and revive the person and all is well.  The reality is, the odds of the person living under these circumstances is under 25%. 
 
They stats are pretty grim. In America, roughly 95% of all sudden cardiac arrest victims will die, even those that are young.
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Not only are the probabilities of survival slim.  It is common for those that survive SCA to become a vegetable due to the lack of blood flow from the brain.  Getting the heart back to normal rhythm is the best best.  Good CPR can also decrease the risk of brain damage.
 
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