Heart Safe Holidays
July has officially arrived and it’ll only be a matter of time before the kids break up for their summer holidays and your packing your cases for your summer holiday!
Think back to when you booked your holiday. The prime aspects that come to mind when choosing a destination are:
Location Hotel reviews Beaches Weather
But wait! When you booked your holiday did you consider whether the location you’re travelling to is heart safe and equipped with a defibrillator? We explore why you should consider whether your chosen location is heart safe or not.
Importance of AEDs on Holiday
Regardless of whether you’re an Olympic athlete or a regular Joe, no-one is immune to sudden cardiac arrest, and defibrillators, along with effective CPR are the only definitive treatment against this. A sudden cardiac arrest can happen anywhere at any time, even when you’re on holiday with no prior symptoms or warnings to prepare you.
Whilst AEDs are still not yet a legal requirement, defibrillators are the only devices that can help save a victim of sudden cardiac arrest, which is why having quick access to these devices are vital to improve chances of survival.
Electrode pads are attached to the casualty and they begin to analyse their heart rhythm and relay the data back to the defibrillator. The defibrillator will then analyse the data and determine whether a shock is advised or not. For both trained and non-trained rescuers, it is important they remember that if no shock is advised, no shock will be delivered.
If the data relayed back contains information regarding Ventricular Tachycardia or Ventricular Fibrillation, then the defibrillator will advise a shock which should then be followed by CPR, delivered on a ratio of 30 chest compressions to 2 rescue breaths.
If treatment is delivered within 3-5 minutes of the victim collapsing, then their survival chance increases from 6% to 74%. If treatment is delayed, their survival chance decreases 10%, per minute. These statistics speak for themselves, so it’s important that as many places, including holiday locations outside of the UK are equipped with the facilities to treat a cardiac arrest.
AEDs Abroad
We’ve collated over 180 heart safe locations from around the world. A few of our favourites include:
Grand Canyon.
Vatican City.
Disneyland Paris.
Can you remember the last time you saw an AED whilst you were out and about? Maybe it was in your local supermarket, the airport or even whilst you were on holiday! There’s still plenty of room in our hall of fame, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled and send in your AEDs finds to help us raise awareness of these life-saving devices.
There are plenty of ways to send in your AED snaps. You can email it to us, or head on over to our social media channels – either Twitter or Facebook – and send your photos to us there. Don’t forget to let us know where you spotted the defibrillator and to include the hashtag #defibworld80 - it’s that easy.
Holiday Safe
It’s not always made clear if your hotel is equipped with a life-saving defibrillator, but finding out is as easy as emailing the hotel’s customer service desk an email to ask about their safety precautions.
If you spot and AED on your travels far, wide or even down the road; there are plenty of ways to send in your AED snaps. You can email it to us, or head on over to our social media channels – either Twitter or Facebook – and send your photos to us there. Don’t forget to let us know where you spotted the defibrillator and to include the hashtag #defibworld80.
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